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Acupuncture & Brain Degenerative Diseases

Acupuncture modulates resting state hippocampal functional connectivity in Alzheimer disease

PLoS One. 2014 Mar 6;9(3):e91160. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0091160. eCollection 2014.

Editor: Daqing Ma, Imperial College London, Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, United Kingdom

Received August 19, 2013; Accepted February 10, 2014; Published March 6, 2014

This is an open-access article, free of all copyright, and may be freely reproduced, distributed, transmitted, modified, built upon, or otherwise used by anyone for any lawful purpose. The work is made available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication.

 

Wang Z1, Liang P2, Zhao Z1, Han Y3, Song H3, Xu J4, Lu J1, Li K5.

Abstract

Our objective is to clarify the effects of acupuncture on hippocampal connectivity in patients with Alzheimer disease (AD) using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Twenty-eight right-handed subjects (14 AD patients and 14 healthy elders) participated in this study. Clinical and neuropsychological examinations were performed on all subjects. MRI was performed using a SIEMENS verio 3-Tesla scanner. The fMRI study used a single block experimental design.

We first acquired baseline resting state data during the initial 3 minutes and then performed acupuncture stimulation on the Tai chong and He gu acupoints for 3 minutes. Last, we acquired fMRI data for another 10 minutes after the needle was withdrawn. The preprocessing and data analysis were performed using statistical parametric mapping (SPM5) software. Two-sample t-tests were performed using data from the two groups in different states.

We found that during the resting state, several frontal and temporal regions showed decreased hippocampal connectivity in AD patients relative to control subjects. During the resting state following acupuncture, AD patients showed increased connectivity in most of these hippocampus related regions compared to the first resting state.

In conclusion, we investigated the effect of acupuncture on AD patients by combing fMRI and traditional acupuncture. Our fMRI study confirmed that acupuncture at Tai chong and He gu can enhance the hippocampal connectivity in AD patients.

PMID: 24603951 [PubMed – in process]  PMCID: PMC3946345

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Acupuncture Modulates Resting State Hippocampal Functional Connectivity in Alzheimer Disease

Effect of acupuncture in mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer disease: a functional MRI study

PLoS One. 2012;7(8):e42730. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0042730. Epub 2012 Aug 20.

Wang Z1, Nie B, Li D, Zhao Z, Han Y, Song H, Xu J, Shan B, Lu J, Li K.

 

Abstract

We aim to clarify the mechanisms of acupuncture in treating mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and Alzheimer disease (AD) by using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). Thirty-six right-handed subjects (8 MCI patients, 14 AD patients, and 14 healthy elders) participated in this study. Clinical and neuropsychological examinations were performed on all the subjects.

MRI data acquisition was performed on a SIEMENS verio 3-Tesla scanner. The fMRI study used a single block experimental design. We first acquired the baseline resting state data in the initial 3 minutes; we then acquired the fMRI data during the procession of acupuncture stimulation on the acupoints of Tai chong and Hegu for the following 3 minutes. Last, we acquired fMRI data for another 10 minutes after the needle was withdrawn.

The preprocessing and data analysis were performed using the statistical parametric mapping (SPM8) software. Then the two-sample t-tests were performed between each two groups of different states. We found that during the resting state, brain activities in AD and MCI patients were different from those of control subjects. During the acupuncture and the second resting state after acupuncture, when comparing to resting state, there are several regions showing increased or decreased activities in MCI, AD subjects compared to normal subjects. Most of the regions were involved in the temporal lobe and the frontal lobe, which were closely related to the memory and cognition.

In conclusion, we investigated the effect of acupuncture in AD and MCI patients by combing fMRI and traditional acupuncture. Our fMRI study confirmed that acupuncture at Tai chong (Liv3) and He gu (LI4) can activate certain cognitive-related regions in AD and MCI patients.

PMID: 22916152  [PubMed – indexed for MEDLINE]  PMCID:  PMC3423412

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Effect of Acupuncture in Mild Cognitive Impairment and Alzheimer Disease_A Functional MRI Study

Acupuncture Stimulation of Taichong (Liv3) and Hegu (LI4) Modulates the Default Mode Network Activity in Alzheimer’s Disease

Am J Alzheimers Dis Other Demen. 2014 Jun 6. pii: 1533317514536600. [Epub ahead of print]

Source: PubMed

Liang P1, et al.

Neuron Tangles
Neuron Tangles

OBJECTIVES: The acupuncture has been used in the therapy of Alzheimer disease (AD), however, its neural underpins are still unclear. The aim of this study is to examine the acupuncture effect on the default mode network (DMN) in AD by using resting state functional magnetic resonance imaging (RS-fMRI). METHODS: Twenty-eight subjects (14 AD and 14 normal controls (NC)) participated in this study. RS-fMRI data were acquired before and after acupuncture, while during the acupuncture, the procession of acupuncture stimulation on the acupoints of Tai chong (Liv3) and Hegu (LI4) lasted for 3 minutes. RESULTS: Region of interest analysis showed that the impaired DMN connectivity in AD (identified by comparing the pre-acupuncture RS-fMRI of AD and NC), specifically the left cingulate gyrus (CG) and right inferior parietal lobule (IPL), were significantly changed for the better. The whole-brain exploratory analysis further demonstrated these results and found some new regions respond to the acupuncture effect on AD, with a cluster in the left posterior cingulate cortex (PCC), the right middle temporal gyrus (MTG) together with right IPL showed increased within-DMN connectivity; and the bilateral CG and left PCu showed decreased within-DMN connectivity. Moreover, the acupuncture effect on the right MTG was significantly correlated with disease severity as measured by Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) and Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) scores. CONCLUSION: It was found that the acupuncture stimulation could modulate the DMN activity in AD. The current findings suggest that the acupuncture treatment on the relative earlier AD patients might have a better therapy effect.

Effects of acupuncture on declined cerebral blood flow, impaired mitochondrial respiratory function and oxidative stress in multi-infarct dementia rats

Neurochemistry International Volume 65, January 2014, Pages 23–29

Effects of acupuncture on declined cerebral blood flow, impaired mitochondrial respiratory function and oxidative stress in multi-infarct dementia rats

Xuezhu Zhang1, Bangqi Wu1, Kun Nie, Yujie Jia, Jianchun Yu

Abstract

Brain energy disorders and oxidative stress due to chronic hypoperfusion were considered to be the major risk factors in the pathogenesis of dementia. In previous studies, we have demonstrated that acupuncture treatment improved cognitive function of VaD patients and multi-infarct dementia (MID) rats. Acupuncture therapy also increased the activities of glycometabolic enzymes in the brain. But it is not clear whether acupuncture treatment compensates neuronal energy deficit after cerebral ischemic through enhancing the activities of glucose metabolic enzymes and preserving mitochondrial function, and whether acupuncture neuroprotective effect is associated with activations of mitochondrial antioxidative defense system.

So, the effect of acupuncture therapy on cognitive function, cerebral blood flow (CBF), mitochondrial respiratory function and oxidative stress in the brain of MID rats was investigated in this study. The results showed that acupuncture treatment significantly improved cognitive abilities and increased regional CBF of MID rats. Acupuncture elevated the activities of total SOD, CuZnSOD and MnSOD, decreased the level of malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide anion, regulated the ratio of reduced glutathione (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) in mitochondria, and raised the level of the respiratory control index (RCI) and P/O ratio and the activities of mitochondrial respiratory enzymes of MID rats.

These results indicated that acupuncture treatment improved cognitive function of MID rats; and this improvement might be due to increased CBF, which ameliorated mitochondrial dysfunction induced by ischemia and endogenous oxidative stress system of brain.

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Parsing brain activity associated with acupuncture treatment in Parkinson’s diseases

Movement Disorders

Volume 24, Issue 12, pages 1794–1802, 15 September 2009

Parsing brain activity associated with acupuncture treatment in Parkinson’s diseases†

  1. Younbyoung Chae KMD, PhD1,
  2. Hyejung Lee KMD, PhD1,
  3. Hackjin Kim PhD2,
  4. Chang-Hwan Kim KMD, PhD3,
  5. Dae-Il Chang MD, PhD4,
  6. Kyung-Mi Kim KMD, MS1 and
  7. Hi-Joon Park KMD, PhD1,*

Article first published online: 16 JUN 2009

DOI: 10.1002/mds.22673

Abstract

Acupuncture, a common treatment modality within complementary and alternative medicine, has been widely used for Parkinson’s disease (PD). Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), we explored the neural mechanisms underlying the effect of specific and genuine acupuncture treatment on the motor function in patients with PD.

Three fMRI scans were performed in random order in a block design, one for verum acupuncture (VA) treatment, another one for a covert placebo (CP), and the third one for an overt placebo (OP) at the motor function implicated acupoint GB34 on the left foot of 10 patients with PD. We calculated the contrast that subtracts the blood-oxygen-level dependent (BOLD) response for the acupuncture effect (VA vs. CP) and the placebo effect (CP vs. OP).

We found a significant improvement in the motor function of the affected hand after acupuncture treatment. The putamen and the primary motor cortex were activated when patients with PD received the acupuncture treatment (VA vs. CP) and these activations correlated with individual enhanced motor function. Expectation towards acupuncture modality (CP vs. OP) elicited activation over the anterior cingulate gyrus, the superior frontal gyrus, and the superior temporal gyrus. These findings suggest that acupuncture treatment might facilitate improvement in the motor functioning of patients with PD via the basal ganglia-thalamocortical circuit.

© 2009 Movement Disorder Society

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Acupuncture & Parkinson’s

BMC Complement Altern Med. 2014 Sep 15;14:336. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-14-336.

Acupuncture on GB34 activates the precentral gyrus and prefrontal cortex in Parkinson’s disease.

Yeo S, Choe IH, van den Noort M, Bosch P, Jahng GH, Rosen B, Kim SH, Lim S1.

Author information

  • 1Research Group of Pain and Neuroscience, WHO Collaborating Centre, East-west Medical Research Institute, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. lims@khu.ac.kr.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Acupuncture is increasingly used as an additional treatment for patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD).

METHODS:

In this functional magnetic resonance imaging study, brain activation in response to acupuncture in a group of 12 patients with PD was compared with a group of 12 healthy participants. Acupuncture was conducted on a specific acupoint, the right GB 34 (Yanglingquan), which is a frequently used acupoint for motor function treatment in the oriental medical field.

RESULTS:

Acupuncture stimulation on this acupoint activates the prefrontal cortex, precentral gyrus, and putamen in patients with PD; areas that are known to be impaired in patients with PD. Compared with healthy participants, patients with PD showed significantly higher brain activity in the prefrontal cortex and precentral gyrus, especially visible in the left hemisphere.

CONCLUSIONS:

The neuroimaging results of our study suggest that in future acupuncture research; the prefrontal cortex as well as the precentral gyrus should be treated for symptoms of Parkinson’s disease and that GB 34 seems to be a suitable acupoint. Moreover, acupuncture evoked different brain activations in patients with Parkinson’s disease than in healthy participants in our study, stressing the importance of conducting acupuncture studies on both healthy participants as well as patients within the same study, in order to detect acupuncture efficacy.

TRIAL REGISTRATION:

KCT0001122 at cris.nih.go.kr (registration date: 20140530).

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Acup on GB34 activates precentral gyrus & prefrontal cortex in Parkinson’s

 

 

Year : 2013  |  Volume : 8  |  Issue : 6  |  Page : 540-549

Electroacupuncture-regulated neurotrophic factor mRNA expression in the substantia nigra of Parkinson’s disease rats

Shuju Wang1, Jianqiao Fang2, Jun Ma3, Yanchun Wang3, Shaorong Liang3, Dan Zhou3, Guojie Sun3
1 Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Third Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310005, Zhejiang Province; Teaching and Research Office of Acupuncture, College of Acupuncture & Orthopedics, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan 430065, Hubei Province, China
2 Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Third Clinical Medical College, Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310005, Zhejiang Province, China
3 Teaching and Research Office of Acupuncture, College of Acupuncture & Orthopedics, Hubei University of Chinese Medicine, Wuhan 430065, Hubei Province, China

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Electro-acup & Parkinson’s Neural Regen Res86540-9486666_023806

Date of Submission 23-Aug-2012
Date of Acceptance 20-Nov-2012
Date of Web Publication 11-Dec-2013

 

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