Acupuncture attenuates cognitive deficits and increases pyramidal neuron number in hippocampal CA1 area of vascular dementia rats.
BACKGROUND
Decreased cognition is recognized as one of the most severe and consistent behavioral impairments in dementia. Experimental studies have reported that acupuncture may improve cognitive deficits, relieve vascular dementia (VD) symptoms, and increase cerebral perfusion and electrical activity.


METHODS
Multi-infarction dementia was modeled in rats with 3% microemboli saline suspension. Two weeks after acupuncture at Zusanli (ST36), all rats were subjected to a hidden platform trial to test their 3-day spatial memory using the Morris water maze test. To estimate the numbers of pyramidal neuron, astrocytes, and synaptic boutons in hippocampal CA1 area, we adopted an unbiased stereology method to accurately sample and measure the size of cells.


RESULTS
We found that acupuncture at ST36 significantly decreased the escape latency of VD rats. In addition, acupuncture significantly increased the pyramidal neuron number in hippocampal CA1 area (P < 0.05) and tended to decrease the number of astrocytes (P = 0.063). However, there was no significant change in the synaptic bouton number of hippocampal CA1 area in any of the groups (P > 0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
These findings suggest that acupuncture may improve cognitive deficits and increase pyramidal neuron number of hippocampal CA1 area in VD rats.
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, 23 Meishuguanhou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010, China. m13663420179@163.com.|Graduate School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 312, Anshan West Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300193, China. m13663420179@163.com.
Fang
F
Li
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, 23 Meishuguanhou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010, China. m18611132651@163.com.|Graduate School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 312, Anshan West Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300193, China. m18611132651@163.com.
Chao-Qun
CQ
Yan
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, 23 Meishuguanhou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010, China. 1065286401@qq.com.|Graduate School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 312, Anshan West Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300193, China. 1065286401@qq.com.
Li-Ting
LT
Lin
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, 23 Meishuguanhou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010, China. lihuilihui1314@163.com.|Graduate School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 312, Anshan West Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300193, China. lihuilihui1314@163.com.
Hui
H
Li
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, 23 Meishuguanhou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010, China. 806656628@qq.com.|Graduate School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 312, Anshan West Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300193, China. 806656628@qq.com.
Xiang-Hong
XH
Zeng
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, 23 Meishuguanhou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010, China. 913418574@qq.com.|Graduate School, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 312, Anshan West Road, Nankai District, Tianjin, 300193, China. 913418574@qq.com.
Yi
Y
Liu
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, 23 Meishuguanhou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010, China. dsq1992@yeah.net.
Si-Qi
SQ
Du
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, 23 Meishuguanhou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010, China. zhuwen56625658@126.com.
Wen
W
Zhu
Acupuncture and Moxibustion Department, Beijing Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine Affiliated to Capital Medical University, 23 Meishuguanhou Street, Dongcheng District, Beijing, 100010, China. lcz623780@126.com.
Cun-Zhi
CZ
Liu
D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy; D000818:Animals; D001253:Astrocytes / Q000378:metabolism; D003071:Cognition; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D015140:Dementia, Vascular / Q000150:complications / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000628:therapy*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D018782:Maze Learning / Q000502:physiology; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D017966:Pyramidal Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D065852:Spatial Memory