Zhu Shi-Jie, Li Xia, Wei Yu-Wei, Luo Ya-Fei, Tang Gui-Hua, Tang Zhong-Sheng
Anatomy Teaching and Research Office of Guizhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guiyang, China.
Intelligent Elderly Care Teaching and Research Office of Guiyang Health Care Vocational University, Guiyang, China.
Ann Transl Med. 2023 Jan 31;11(2):108. doi: 10.21037/atm-22-6402.
Vascular dementia (VD) is a disease that affects brain function through cerebrovascular disease. Due to its complex pathogenesis, there is no effective drug treatment for VD. The present study aimed to evaluate the role of acupoint catgut embedding in the treatment of rats with VD and its possible molecular mechanism.
A modified 4 vessel occlusion (4-VO) method was used to establish a VD model rat, and spatial learning and memory ability was assessed using the Morris water maze (MWM) test. The protein expression levels were detected by Western blot. Hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining was used for histological analysis and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was applied for analysis of serum inflammatory factors.
We successfully constructed VD model rats with spatial learning and memory impairment, hippocampus injury, and high inflammatory response. Treatment of VD rats with acupoint catgut embedding significantly reduced escape latency and increased the time in the target quadrant and platform crossing times. VD-mediated hippocampal tissue damage and inflammatory reaction [down-regulating interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6)] were significantly alleviated by acupoint catgut embedding treatment. In addition, further mechanism exploration found that acupoint catgut embedding treatment could improve the activity of the toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)/myeloid differentiation factor 88 (MyD88)/nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) signaling pathway. In summary, acupoint catgut embedding treatment improved spatial learning and memory loss, alleviated pathological damage of the hippocampus, and inhibited inflammation response in VD rats, which was probably related to the inhibition of the TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB signaling pathway.
Acupoint catgut embedding may warrant further study as an adjuvant therapy for the treatment of VD.
血管性痴呆（VD）是一种通过脑血管疾病影响脑功能的疾病。由于其发病机制复杂，目前尚无有效的药物治疗方法。本研究旨在评估穴位埋线在VD大鼠治疗中的作用及其可能的分子机制。
采用改良的四血管闭塞（4-VO）法建立VD模型大鼠，通过莫里斯水迷宫（MWM）试验评估其空间学习和记忆能力。采用蛋白质免疫印迹法检测蛋白表达水平。苏木精-伊红（HE）染色用于组织学分析，酶联免疫吸附测定（ELISA）用于分析血清炎症因子。
我们成功构建了具有空间学习和记忆障碍、海马损伤及高炎症反应的VD模型大鼠。穴位埋线治疗VD大鼠可显著缩短逃避潜伏期，增加在目标象限的停留时间和穿越平台次数。穴位埋线治疗可显著减轻VD介导的海马组织损伤和炎症反应[下调白细胞介素-1β（IL-1β）、白细胞介素-6（IL-6）]。此外，进一步的机制探索发现，穴位埋线治疗可改善Toll样受体4（TLR4）/髓样分化因子88（MyD88）/核因子-κB（NF-κB）信号通路的活性。综上所述，穴位埋线治疗改善了VD大鼠的空间学习记忆障碍，减轻了海马的病理损伤，抑制了炎症反应，这可能与抑制TLR4/MyD88/NF-κB信号通路有关。
穴位埋线作为VD治疗的辅助疗法可能值得进一步研究。
