Liu Yanlin, Jin Yuting, Liu Yuxin, Gao Jiaqi, Wang Xiaomei, Ren Hongbin, Hao Yabo, Yang Xibin, Luo Kaitao
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Jiaxing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated With Zhejiang University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Jiaxing, China.
Third Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou, China.
Brain Behav. 2025 Aug;15(8):e70740. doi: 10.1002/brb3.70740.
This research focused on investigating acupuncture's effect on brain injury in middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rats and elucidating its potential mechanisms, with a focus on transcriptomic and protein-level changes related to the complement system, which may be involved in acupuncture's therapeutic effects.
An MCAO rat model was established and treated with acupuncture. Brain tissue from the infarct area was analyzed through RNA sequencing, Gene Ontology (GO), Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) enrichment, and protein-protein interaction (PPI) analyses, followed by qRT-PCR and western blot validation of key complement-related genes.
A total of 1792 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified between the MCAO and acupuncture groups. Of these, 254 hub genes were associated with acupuncture's therapeutic effects. Seven complement-related genes (C1QA, C1QB, C1QC, C2, C6, C7, and TREM2) were significantly downregulated by acupuncture. Functional enrichment revealed that these genes were involved in the inflammatory response, coagulation cascades, blood‒brain barrier regulation, and neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) formation.
Our findings suggest that acupuncture alleviates stroke-induced brain injury by modulating key components of the complement system and associated inflammatory pathways. These results provide mechanistic insights supporting the use of acupuncture as an adjuvant therapy for poststroke neuroinflammation.
本研究聚焦于探究针刺对大脑中动脉闭塞（MCAO）大鼠脑损伤的影响，并阐明其潜在机制，重点关注与补体系统相关的转录组和蛋白质水平变化，这些变化可能参与针刺的治疗作用。
建立MCAO大鼠模型并进行针刺治疗。通过RNA测序、基因本体论（GO）、京都基因与基因组百科全书（KEGG）富集分析以及蛋白质-蛋白质相互作用（PPI）分析对梗死区域的脑组织进行分析，随后通过qRT-PCR和蛋白质免疫印迹法对关键补体相关基因进行验证。
在MCAO组和针刺组之间共鉴定出1792个差异表达基因（DEG）。其中，254个枢纽基因与针刺的治疗作用相关。针刺显著下调了7个补体相关基因（C1QA、C1QB、C1QC、C2、C6、C7和TREM2）。功能富集分析表明，这些基因参与炎症反应、凝血级联反应、血脑屏障调节和中性粒细胞胞外陷阱（NET）形成。
我们的研究结果表明，针刺通过调节补体系统的关键成分和相关炎症途径减轻中风诱导的脑损伤。这些结果为支持针刺作为中风后神经炎症辅助治疗方法提供了机制性见解。
