Xie Chen, Wang Jing, Zhao Na, Yang Wenjia, Gao Xiaolin, Liu Zhen, Chen Xinyu, Fang Chaojun, Fu Cong, Chen Yunfei, Yu Xintong
Yueyang Hospital of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200437, China.
Shanghai Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 200030, China.
Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2021 Jul 1;2021:5527060. doi: 10.1155/2021/5527060. eCollection 2021.
Insomnia is often related to stressful events. The hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is related to stress, and dopamine (DA) and DA receptors are involved in the regulation of HPA axis. Electroacupuncture (EA) can improve sleep in individuals with insomnia, but the mechanism is unclear. We demonstrated that EA can improve sleep in rats after cage change through DA and the DA receptors in the HPA axis.
A rat model of insomnia was established by cage change to a dirty cage. The rats in treatment groups were intervened by EA and D1R (or D2R) antagonists. Electroencephalography (EEG) and electromyogram (EMG) were recorded to compare the changes in sleep. The DA, corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH), and cortisol (CORT) levels in the plasma and hypothalamus were measured by ELISAs, and the D1R and D2R levels were measured by RT-PCR and immunohistochemistry.
The dirty group showed a significant increase in the amount of wakefulness and decrease in the amount of NREM sleep, with decreased numbers of long NREM sleep bouts and REM sleep bouts and increased mean duration of wakefulness during the light period. EA and D1R (or D2R) antagonists intervention could improve sleep disturbance by decreasing wakefulness in the light period after cage change, EA and D1R (or D2R) antagonists could increase the hypothalamus DA, CRH, ACTH, CORT level, and the D1R and D2R mRNA levels in the HPA axis, and the effect of EA plus D1R (or D2R) antagonist was not superior to that of EA or D1R (or D2R) antagonists alone.
EA can improve the sleep of rats after cage change, and the mechanism may be related to the regulation of DA and D1R or D2R in the HPA axis.
失眠常与应激事件相关。下丘脑 - 垂体 - 肾上腺（HPA）轴与应激有关，多巴胺（DA）及其受体参与HPA轴的调节。电针（EA）可改善失眠个体的睡眠，但机制尚不清楚。我们证明，EA可通过DA及HPA轴中的DA受体改善大鼠换笼后的睡眠。
通过将大鼠更换至脏笼建立失眠大鼠模型。对治疗组大鼠进行EA及D1R（或D2R）拮抗剂干预。记录脑电图（EEG）和肌电图（EMG）以比较睡眠变化。采用酶联免疫吸附测定法（ELISA）检测血浆及下丘脑DA、促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素（CRH）、促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）和皮质醇（CORT）水平，采用逆转录聚合酶链反应（RT-PCR）和免疫组织化学法检测D1R和D2R水平。
脏笼组大鼠清醒时间显著增加，非快速眼动（NREM）睡眠时间减少，NREM长时睡眠发作次数和快速眼动（REM）睡眠发作次数减少，光照期平均清醒时长增加。EA及D1R（或D2R）拮抗剂干预可通过减少换笼后光照期的清醒时间改善睡眠障碍，EA及D1R（或D2R）拮抗剂可增加下丘脑DA、CRH、ACTH、CORT水平以及HPA轴中D1R和D2R mRNA水平，且EA加D1R（或D2R）拮抗剂的效果并不优于单独使用EA或D1R（或D2R）拮抗剂。
EA可改善大鼠换笼后的睡眠，其机制可能与调节HPA轴中的DA及D1R或D2R有关。
