Electroacupuncture Mitigates Hippocampal Cognitive Impairments by Reducing BACE1 Deposition and Activating PKA in APP/PS1 Double Transgenic Mice.

Increased amyloid-ß (Aß) plaque deposition is thought to be the main cause of Alzheimer's disease (AD). ß-Site amyloid precursor protein cleaving enzyme 1 (BACE1) is the key protein involved in Aß peptide generation. Excessive expression of BACE1 might cause overproduction of neurotoxins in the central nervous system. Previous studies indicated that BACE1 initially cleaves the amyloid precursor protein (APP) and may subsequently interfere with physiological functions of proteins such as PKA, which is recognized to be closely associated with long-term potentiation (LTP) level and can effectively ameliorate cognitive impairments. Therefore, revealing the underlying mechanism of BACE1 in the pathogenesis of AD might have a significant impact on the future development of therapeutic agents targeting dementia. This study examined the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation on BACE1, APP, and p-PKA protein levels in hippocampal tissue samples. Memory and learning abilities were assessed using the Morris water maze test after EA intervention. Immunofluorescence, immunohistochemistry, and western blot were employed to assess the distribution patterns and expression levels of BACE1, APP, and p-PKA, respectively. The results showed the downregulation of BACE1 and APP and the activation of PKA by EA. In summary, EA treatment might reduce BACE1 deposition in APP/PS1 transgenic mice and regulate PKA and its associated substrates, such as LTP to change memory and learning abilities.

Effects of acupuncture on patients with Alzheimer's disease: Protocol for a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the leading progressive neurodegenerative disease worldwide, accompanied with nonreversible cognitive impairments. Acupuncture, as the traditional Chinese technique, is widely applied in clinical trials for AD. The aim of this review is to evaluate the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the aspect of antidementia. METHODS: Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) related to acupuncture treatment targeting AD will be collected. We will search the following 4 databases of electronic English resources, including PubMed, Embase, MEDLINE, Web of Science, and 4 Chinese databases, namely CNKI, CBM, VIP, and Wanfang database. All the RCTs will be searched from their inception to November 2018. After screening the studies, a meta-analysis of RCTs will be carried out. Subsequently, the assessment of bias risk, data synthesis, subgroup analysis will be conducted using RevMan V.5.3.5 software if the setting condition is met. RESULTS: This systematic view and meta-analysis will assess the efficacy and safety of acupuncture intervention on AD patients, which is fundamentally based on current published evidence, and provide a high-quality synthesis for clinical practitioners of treating AD with acupuncture, CONCLUSION:: The summary of our systematic view will determine whether acupuncture intervention could be an efficient and feasible approach to the treatment of AD patients.