Electroacupuncture preconditioning attenuates ischemic brain injury by activation of the adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase signaling pathway.
Electroacupuncture has therapeutic effects on ischemic brain injury, but its mechanism is still poorly understood. In this study, mice were stimulated by electroacupuncture at the Baihui (GV20) acupoint for 30 minutes at 1 mA and 2/15 Hz for 5 consecutive days. A cerebral ischemia model was established by ligating the bilateral common carotid artery for 15 minutes. At 72 hours after injury, neuronal injury in the mouse hippocampus had lessened, and the number of terminal deoxynucleotide transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling-positive cells reduced after electroacupuncture treatment. Moreover, expression of adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase α (AMPKα) and phosphorylated AMPKα was up-regulated. Intraperitoneal injection of the AMPK antagonist, compound C, suppressed this phenomenon. Our findings suggest that electroacupuncture preconditioning alleviates ischemic brain injury via AMPK activation.
Department of Anesthesiology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.
Qiang-Qiang
QQ
Ran
Department of Anesthesiology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.
Huai-Long
HL
Chen
Department of Anesthesiology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.
Yan-Li
YL
Liu
Department of Anesthesiology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.
Hai-Xia
HX
Yu
Department of Anesthesiology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.
Fei
F
Shi
Department of Anesthesiology, Qingdao Municipal Hospital, School of Medicine, Qingdao University, Qingdao, Shandong Province, China.
Ming-Shan
MS
Wang
NSFC grant; adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase α; apoptosis; cerebral ischemia; compound C; electroacupuncture; nerve regeneration; neural regeneration; neurons; neuroprotection