Pyramidal and parvalbumin neurons modulate the process of electroacupuncture stimulation for stroke rehabilitation

Xiaorong Tang; Jiahui Shi; Shumin Lin; Zhiyin He; Shuai Cui; Wenhui Di; Siyun Chen; Junshang Wu; Si Yuan; Qiuping Ye; Xiaoyun Yang; Ying Shang; Zhaoxiang Zhang; Lin Wang; Liming Lu; Chunzhi Tang; Nenggui Xu; Lulu Yao

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2024.109695

Pyramidal and parvalbumin neurons modulate the process of electroacupuncture stimulation for stroke rehabilitation

iScience. 2024 Apr 9;27(5):109695. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2024.109695. eCollection 2024 May 17.

Authors

Xiaorong Tang¹, Jiahui Shi¹, Shumin Lin¹, Zhiyin He¹, Shuai Cui^{2

3}, Wenhui Di¹, Siyun Chen¹, Junshang Wu¹, Si Yuan¹, Qiuping Ye¹, Xiaoyun Yang¹, Ying Shang¹, Zhaoxiang Zhang⁴, Lin Wang¹, Liming Lu¹, Chunzhi Tang¹, Nenggui Xu¹, Lulu Yao¹

Affiliations

¹ South China Research Center for Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Medical College of Acu-Moxi and Rehabilitation, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou 510006, China.
² Research Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230000, Anhui Province, China.
³ College of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei 230000, Anhui Province, China.
⁴ State Key Laboratory of Chemical Oncogenomics, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Chemical Genomics, Peking University, Shenzhen 518055, China.

Abstract

Electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation has been shown to be beneficial in stroke rehabilitation; however, little is known about the neurological mechanism by which this peripheral stimulation approach treats for stroke. This study showed that both pyramidal and parvalbumin (PV) neuronal activity increased in the contralesional primary motor cortex forelimb motor area (M1FL) after ischemic stroke induced by focal unilateral occlusion in the M1FL. EA stimulation reduced pyramidal neuronal activity and increased PV neuronal activity. These results were obtained by a combination of fiber photometry recordings, in vivo and in vitro electrophysiological recordings, and immunofluorescence. Moreover, EA was found to regulate the expression/function of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptors (NMDARs) altered by stroke pathology. In summary, our findings suggest that EA could restore disturbed neuronal activity through the regulation of the activity of pyramidal and PV neurons. Furthermore, NMDARs we shown to play an important role in EA-mediated improvements in sensorimotor ability during stroke rehabilitation.

Keywords: Behavioral neuroscience; Neuroscience; Sensory neuroscience.