科研之友
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摘要
It is widely accepted that the synaptic dysfunction and synapse loss contribute to the cognitive deficits of vascular dementia (VD) patients. We have previously reported that acupuncture improved cognitive function in rats with VD. However, the mechanisms involved in acupuncture improving cognitive ability remain to be elucidated. The present study aims to investigate the pathways and molecules involved in the neuroprotective effect of acupuncture. We assessed the effects of acupuncture on hippocampal long-term potentiation (LTP), the most prominent cellular model of memory formation. Acupuncture enhanced LTP and norepinephrine (NE) levels in the hippocampus. Inhibition of the beta-adrenergic receptor (AR), but not the alpha-AR, was able to block the effects of acupuncture on hippocampal LTP. Furthermore, inhibition of beta 1-AR, not beta 2-AR, abolished the enhanced LTP induced by acupuncture. The expression analysis revealed a significant upregulation of beta 1-AR and unchanged beta 2-AR with acupuncture, which supported the above findings. Specifically, increased beta 1-ARs in the dentate gyrus were expressed on neurons exclusively. Taken together, the present data supports a beneficial role of acupuncture in synaptic plasticity challenged with VD. A likely mechanism is the increase of NE and activation of beta 1-AR in the hippocampus.
