Preventive Electroacupuncture Ameliorates D-Galactose-Induced Alzheimer's Disease-Like Pathology and Memory Deficits Probably via Inhibition of GSK3 β/mTOR Signaling Pathway

Chao-Chao Yu; Jia Wang; Si-Si Ye; Shan Gao; Jia Li; Li Wang; Tao Jiang; Xue-Song Wang; Bo-Cun Li; Qing Shu; Wei Lu; Yan-Jun Du; Li-Hong Kong

doi:10.1155/2020/1428752

Preventive Electroacupuncture Ameliorates D-Galactose-Induced Alzheimer's Disease-Like Pathology and Memory Deficits Probably via Inhibition of GSK3 β/mTOR Signaling Pathway

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2020 Apr 23:2020:1428752. doi: 10.1155/2020/1428752. eCollection 2020.

Authors

Chao-Chao Yu^{1

2}, Jia Wang^{1

2}, Si-Si Ye³, Shan Gao⁴, Jia Li^{1

2}, Li Wang^{1

2}, Tao Jiang^{1

2}, Xue-Song Wang^{1

2}, Bo-Cun Li⁵, Qing Shu⁶, Wei Lu^{1

2}, Yan-Jun Du^{1

2}, Li-Hong Kong^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ College of Acupuncture and Orthopedics, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
² Hubei Provincial Collaborative Innovation Center of Preventive Treatment by Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
³ Fourth Clinical Medical College, Guangzhou University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ Department of Acupuncture & Moxibustion, Wuhan Hospital of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine, Tongji Medical College of Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
⁵ Department of Acupuncture, Union Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, Hubei, China.
⁶ Department of Rehabilitation, Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan University, Wuhan, Hubei, China.

Abstract

Acupuncture has been practiced to treat neuropsychiatric disorders for a thousand years in China. Prevention of disease by acupuncture and moxibustion treatment, guided by the theory of Chinese acupuncture, gradually draws growing attention nowadays and has been investigated in the role of the prevention and treatment of mental disorders such as AD. Despite its well-documented efficacy, its biological action remains greatly invalidated. Here, we sought to observe whether preventive electroacupuncture during the aging process could alleviate learning and memory deficits in D-galactose-induced aged rats. We found that preventive electroacupuncture at GV20-BL23 acupoints during aging attenuated the hippocampal loss of dendritic spines, ameliorated neuronal microtubule injuries, and increased the expressions of postsynaptic PSD95 and presynaptic SYN, two important synapse-associated proteins involved in synaptic plasticity. Furthermore, we observed an inhibition of GSK3β/mTOR pathway activity accompanied by a decrease in tau phosphorylation level and prompted autophagy activity induced by preventive electroacupuncture. Our results suggested that preventive electroacupuncture can prevent and alleviate memory deficits and ameliorate synapse and neuronal microtubule damage in aging rats, which was probably via the inhibition of GSK3β/mTOR signaling pathway. It may provide new insights for the identification of prevention strategies of AD.