Acupuncture prevents 6-hydroxydopamine-induced neuronal death in the nigrostriatal dopaminergic system in the rat Parkinson's disease model.
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic neurodegenerative disorder, and it has been suggested that treatments promoting survival and functional recovery of affected dopaminergic neurons could have a significant and long-term therapeutic value. In the present study, we investigated the neuroprotective effects of acupuncture on the nigrostriatal system in rat unilaterally lesioned with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA, 4 microg/microl, intrastriatal injection) using tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and receptor for brain-derived neurotrophic factor, trkB, immunohistochemistries. Two weeks after the lesions were made, rats presented with asymmetry in rotational behavior (118.3 +/- 17.5 turns/h) following injection with apomorphine, a dopamine receptor agonist (0.5 mg/kg, sc). In contrast, acupunctural treatment at acupoints GB34 and LI3 was shown to significantly reduce this motor deficit (14.6 +/- 13.4 turns/h). Analysis via TH immunohistochemistry revealed a substantial loss of cell bodies in the substantia nigra (SN) (45.7% loss) and their terminals in the dorsolateral striatum ipsilateral to the 6-OHDA-induced lesion. However, acupunctural treatment resulted in the enhanced survival of dopaminergic neurons in the SN (21.4% loss) and their terminals in the dorsolateral striatum. Acupuncture also increased the expression of trkB significantly (35.6% increase) in the ipsilateral SN. In conclusion, we observed that only acupuncturing without the use of any drug has the neuroprotective effects against neuronal death in the rat PD model and these protective properties of acupuncture could be mediated by trkB.
Park
Hi-Joon
HJ
Research Group of Pain and Neuroscience, Kyung Hee University, Seoul 130-701, Korea.
Lim
Sabina
S
Joo
Wan-Seok
WS
Yin
Chang-Shik
CS
Lee
Hyang-Sook
HS
Lee
Hye-Jung
HJ
Seo
Jung Chul
JC
Leem
Kanghyun
K
Son
Yang-Sun
YS
Kim
Youn-Jung
YJ
Kim
Chang-Ju
CJ
Kim
Yong-Sik
YS
Chung
Joo-Ho
JH
D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods; D000818:Animals; D001058:Apomorphine / Q000494:pharmacology; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D002452:Cell Count; D002470:Cell Survival; D003342:Corpus Striatum / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004298:Dopamine / Q000378:metabolism; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D016627:Oxidopamine; D010302:Parkinson Disease, Secondary / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D020813:Receptor, trkB / Q000096:biosynthesis; D013378:Substantia Nigra / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase / Q000096:biosynthesis
D016627:Oxidopamine; D014446:Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase; D020813:Receptor, trkB; D001058:Apomorphine; D004298:Dopamine