Wang Hao, Liu Wen-Jian, Wang Xi-Yang, Chen Xiao-Qi, Cai Rong-Lin, Zhang Meng-Ting, Wang Hai-Tao, He Guang-Wei, Zhang Zhi, Shen Guo-Ming
College of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine (School of Life Sciences), Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui, China.
Hefei Institute of Pharmaceutical Industry Co., Ltd., Hefei, Anhui, China.
Front Physiol. 2023 Feb 15;14:1074979. doi: 10.3389/fphys.2023.1074979. eCollection 2023.
Psychological and physiological stress can cause gastrointestinal motility disorders. Acupuncture has a benign regulatory effect on gastrointestinal motility. However, the mechanisms underlying these processes remain unclear. Herein, we established a gastric motility disorder (GMD) model in the context of restraint stress (RS) and irregular feeding. The activity of emotional center-central amygdala (CeA) GABAergic neurons and gastrointestinal center-dorsal vagal complex (DVC) neurons were recorded by electrophysiology. Virus tracing and patch clamp analysis of the anatomical and functional connection between the CeA → dorsal vagal complex pathways were performed. Optogenetics inhibiting or activating CeA neurons or the CeA → dorsal vagal complex pathway were used to detect changes in gastric function. We found that restraint stress induced delayed gastric emptying and decreased gastric motility and food intake. Simultaneously, restraint stress activated CeA GABAergic neurons, inhibiting dorsal vagal complex neurons, with electroacupuncture (EA) reversing this phenomenon. In addition, we identified an inhibitory pathway in which CeA GABAergic neurons project into the dorsal vagal complex. Furthermore, the use of optogenetic approaches inhibited CeA neurons and the CeA → dorsal vagal complex pathway in gastric motility disorder mice, which enhanced gastric movement and gastric emptying, whereas activation of the CeA and CeA → dorsal vagal complex pathway mimicked the symptoms of weakened gastric movement and delayed gastric emptying in naïve mice. Our findings indicate that the CeA → dorsal vagal complex pathway may be involved in regulating gastric dysmotility under restraint stress conditions, and partially reveals the mechanism of electroacupuncture.
心理和生理应激可导致胃肠动力障碍。针灸对胃肠动力具有良性调节作用。然而，这些过程的潜在机制仍不清楚。在此，我们在束缚应激（RS）和不规律喂养的背景下建立了胃动力障碍（GMD）模型。通过电生理学记录情绪中枢——中央杏仁核（CeA）GABA能神经元和胃肠中枢——迷走背核复合体（DVC）神经元的活动。对CeA→迷走背核复合体通路之间的解剖学和功能连接进行病毒示踪和膜片钳分析。采用光遗传学方法抑制或激活CeA神经元或CeA→迷走背核复合体通路，以检测胃功能的变化。我们发现束缚应激导致胃排空延迟、胃动力和食物摄入量下降。同时，束缚应激激活了CeA GABA能神经元，抑制了迷走背核复合体神经元，而电针（EA）可逆转这一现象。此外，我们确定了一条抑制性通路，其中CeA GABA能神经元投射到迷走背核复合体中。此外，在胃动力障碍小鼠中使用光遗传学方法抑制CeA神经元和CeA→迷走背核复合体通路，可增强胃运动和胃排空，而激活CeA和CeA→迷走背核复合体通路则模拟了正常小鼠胃运动减弱和胃排空延迟的症状。我们的研究结果表明，CeA→迷走背核复合体通路可能参与束缚应激条件下胃动力障碍的调节，并部分揭示了电针的作用机制。
