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Emerging evidence suggests a link between atopic dermatitis (AD) and gastrointestinal disorders, particularly in relation to gut microbial dysbiosis. This study explored the potential exacerbation of AD by gut inflammation and microbial imbalances using an irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) mouse model. Chronic gut inflammation was induced in the model by intrarectal injection of 2,4,6-trinitrobenzene sulfonic acid (TNBS), followed by a 4-week development period. We noted significant upregulation of proinflammatory cytokines in the colon and evident gut microbial dysbiosis in the IBS mice. Additionally, these mice exhibited impaired gut barrier function, increased permeability, and elevated systemic inflammation markers such as IL-6 and LPS. A subsequent MC903 challenge on the right cheek lasting for 7 days revealed more severe AD symptoms in IBS mice compared to controls. Further, fecal microbial transplantation (FMT) from IBS mice resulted in aggravated AD symptoms, a result similarly observed with FMT from an IBS patient. Notably, an increased abundance of Alistipes in the feces of IBS mice correlated with heightened systemic and localized inflammation in both the gut and skin. These findings collectively indicate that chronic gut inflammation and microbial dysbiosis in IBS are critical factors exacerbating AD, highlighting the integral relationship between gut and skin health.
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Dermatite Atópica , Microbioma Gastrointestinal , Síndrome do Intestino Irritável , Humanos , Animais , Camundongos , Disbiose , Microbioma Gastrointestinal/fisiologia , Fezes , Transplante de Microbiota Fecal , InflamaçãoRESUMO
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is highly comorbid with negative emotions such as anxiety and depression. Although acupuncture has demonstrated efficacy in AD, its influence on comorbid anxiety and depression remains unclear. We sought to explore the impact and mechanisms of action of acupuncture on comorbid anxiety and depression of AD. AD-like skin lesions were induced by the topical application of MC903 to the mouse cheek. Acupuncture was performed at Gok-Ji (LI11) acupoints. AD-like phenotypes were quantified by lesion scores, scratching behavior, and histopathological changes. The effects of acupuncture on comorbid anxiety and depression-like behaviors were assessed using the elevated plus-maze (EPM), open-field tests (OFT), and tail-suspension test (TST). In addition, biochemical changes in the brain reward regions were investigated by immunoblotting for the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine D1 receptor (D1R), phospho-dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein-32 kDa (pDARPP-32), phospho-cAMP response element binding protein (pCREB), ΔFosB, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the nucleus accumbens, dorsolateral striatum, and ventral tegmental area. Acupuncture effectively improved the chronic itching and robust AD-like skin lesions with epidermal thickening. Additionally, it considerably reduced comorbid anxiety- and depression-like symptoms, as indicated by more time spent in the open arms of the EPM and in the center of the open field and less time spent immobile in the TST. Higher pCREB, ΔFosB, BDNF, and pDARPP-32 levels, and reduced TH and D1R protein expression in the brain reward regions of AD mice were reversed by acupuncture treatment. The beneficial effects of acupuncture on clinical symptoms (scratching behavior) and comorbid psychological distress in AD strongly correlated with dorsal striatal ΔFosB levels. Collectively, these data indicate that acupuncture had a significant, positive impact on comorbid anxiety- and depression-like behaviors by modulating neuroadaptation in the brain reward circuit in mice with AD, providing a novel perspective for the non-pharmacological management of psychiatric comorbidities of AD.
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Terapia por Acupuntura , Dermatite Atópica , Animais , Ansiedade/induzido quimicamente , Ansiedade/tratamento farmacológico , Encéfalo , Fator Neurotrófico Derivado do Encéfalo/metabolismo , Dermatite Atópica/complicações , Dermatite Atópica/psicologia , Dermatite Atópica/terapia , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Camundongos , RecompensaRESUMO
Growing evidences show that gut microbiota is associated with the pathogenesis of Parkinson's disease (PD) and the gut-brain axis can be promising target for the development of the therapeutic strategies for PD. Acupuncture has been used to improve brain functions and inflammation in neurological disorders such as PD, and to recover the gastrointestinal dysfunctions in various gastrointestinal disorders. Thus, we investigated whether acupuncture could improve Parkinsonism and gut microbial dysbiosis induced by 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine. First, we observed that acupuncture treatment at acupoints GB34 and ST36 could improve motor functions and comorbid anxiety in PD mice. Next, we found that acupuncture increased the levels of dopaminergic fibers and neurons in the striatum and the substantia nigra, respectively. Acupuncture also restored the overexpression of microglia and astrocyte as well as conversion of Bax and Bcl-2 expression in both the striatum and the substantia nigra, indicating that inflammatory responses and apoptosis were blocked by acupuncture. Additionally, via 16S rRNA sequence analysis, we observed that the relative abundance of 18 genera were changed in acupuncture-treated mice compared to the PD mice. Of them, Butyricimonas, Holdemania, Frisingicoccus, Gracilibacter, Phocea, and Aestuariispira showed significant correlations with anxiety as well as motor functions. Furthermore, the predicted functional analyses showed that acupuncture restored the physiology functions such as glutathione metabolism, methane metabolism, and PD pathway. In conclusion, we suggest that the effects of acupuncture on the enhanced motor function and the protection of the dopaminergic neurons may be associated with the regulation of the gut microbial dysbiosis and thus the inhibition of the neuroinflammation in the PD mice.
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Terapia por Acupuntura , Microbioma Gastrointestinal , Doença de Parkinson , Animais , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Neurônios Dopaminérgicos , Disbiose/complicações , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos C57BL , Doença de Parkinson/terapia , RNA Ribossômico 16S , Substância NegraRESUMO
There have been numerous studies investigating the impact of acupuncture and/or moxibustion on the gut microbiota, but the results have been inconclusive. Therefore, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis that included both preclinical and clinical studies to assess the current evidence regarding the effects of acupuncture on gut microbiota changes. We collected relevant studies from EMBASE and PubMed, collected outcomes including diversity and relative abundance measures of the gut microbiome, and the summarized effect estimates were calculated using the ratio of means (ROM) with 95% confidence intervals. Our analysis identified three clinical studies and 20 preclinical studies, encompassing various diseases and models, including colitis and obesity. The pooled results indicated no significant difference in alpha diversity changes between treatment groups and controls, except for the Simpson index measure, which was significantly higher in the treatment groups. Additionally, the pooled results showed an increase in the Firmicutes and a decrease in the Bacteroidetes in the treatment groups, along with increases in the Lactobacillus and Ruminococcus genera. These findings suggest acupuncture treatment can target the modification of specific phyla and genera of gut microbiota. However, it is important to note that the effects of acupuncture on the gut microbiome are heterogeneous across studies, particularly in different disease models.
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Background: Acupuncture has been proven effective for various types of pain, and peripheral molecular signals around acupuncture-treated areas have been suggested to contribute to the analgesic effects of acupuncture. However, the underlying mechanism from these peripheral molecular signals to central ones remains unclear. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether peripheral Rho-associated protein kinase (ROCK) activation induced by acupuncture treatment mediates acupuncture analgesia, and also to investigate the relationship between ROCK activation and extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), which has previously been proven to mediate acupuncture analgesia and other related molecular changes during acupuncture. Methods: Acupuncture was treated at the bilateral GB34 acupoints of C57BL/6 mice, after which changes in ROCK activation and the location of its expression in the skin were analyzed. To verify the role of ROCK in acupuncture analgesia, we administrated ROCK inhibitor Y-27632 (0.3 µg/ul) into the skin before acupuncture treatment with formalin and complete Freund adjuvant (CFA) induced pain models, then the nociceptive responses were analyzed. Results: Acupuncture treatment produced ROCK2 activation in the skin after 30 and 60 min, and the histological analyses revealed that ROCK2 was activated in the fibroblast of the dermis. The acupuncture-induced ROCK2 expression was significantly attenuated by the ERK inhibitor, whereas phospho-ERK expression was not inhibited by ROCK inhibitor. In both the formalin- and CFA-induced mouse pain models, acupuncture analgesia was blocked by ROCK inhibitor administration. Conclusion: Acupuncture treatment-induced ROCK2 expression is a downstream effector of phospho-ERK in the skin and plays a crucial role in acupuncture analgesia.
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OBJECTIVE: Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease that may be linked to changes in the gut microbiome. Acupuncture has been proven to be effective in reducing AD symptoms without serious adverse events, but its underlying mechanism is not completely understood. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the potential effect of acupuncture on AD is gut microbiota-dependent. METHODS: AD-like skin lesions were induced by applying MC903 topically to the cheek of the mouse. Acupuncture was done at the Gok-Ji (LI11) acupoints. AD-like symptoms were assessed by lesion scores, scratching behavior, and histopathological changes; intestinal barrier function was measured by fecal output, serum lipopolysaccharide levels, histopathological changes, and mRNA expression of markers involved in intestinal permeability and inflammation. Gut microbiota was profiled using 16S rRNA gene sequencing from fecal samples. RESULTS: Acupuncture effectively improved chronic itch as well as the AD-like skin lesions with epidermal thickening, and also significantly altered gut microbiota structure as revealed by ß-diversity indices and analysis of similarities. These beneficial effects were eliminated by antibiotic depletion of gut microbiota, but were reproduced in gut microbiota-depleted mice that received a fecal microbiota transplant from acupuncture-treated mice. Interestingly, AD mice had intestinal barrier dysfunction as indicated by increased intestinal permeability, atrophy of the mucosal structure (reduced villus height and crypt depth), decreased expression of tight junctions and mucus synthesis genes, and increased expression of inflammatory mediators in the ileum. Acupuncture attenuated these abnormalities, which was gut microbiota-dependent. CONCLUSION: Acupuncture ameliorates AD-like phenotypes in a gut microbiota-dependent manner and some of these positive benefits are explained by modulation of the intestinal barrier, providing new perspective for non-pharmacological strategies for modulating gut microbiota to prevent and treat AD. Please cite this article as: Yeom M, Ahn S, Hahm DH, Jang SY, Jang SH, Park SY, Jang JH, Park J, Oh JY, Lee IS, Kim K, Kwon SK, Park HJ. Acupuncture ameliorates atopic dermatitis by modulating gut barrier function in a gut microbiota-dependent manner in mice. J Integr Med. 2024; Epub ahead of print.
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Despite clinical data stretching over millennia, the neurobiological basis of the effectiveness of acupuncture in treating diseases of the central nervous system has remained elusive. Here, using an established model of acupuncture treatment in Parkinson's disease (PD) model mice, we show that peripheral acupuncture stimulation activates hypothalamic melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) neurons via nerve conduction. We further identify two separate neural pathways originating from anatomically and electrophysiologically distinct MCH neuronal subpopulations, projecting to the substantia nigra and hippocampus, respectively. Through chemogenetic manipulation specifically targeting these MCH projections, their respective roles in mediating the acupuncture-induced motor recovery and memory improvements following PD onset are demonstrated, as well as the underlying mechanisms mediating recovery from dopaminergic neurodegeneration, reactive gliosis, and impaired hippocampal synaptic plasticity. Collectively, these MCH neurons constitute not only a circuit-based explanation for the therapeutic effectiveness of traditional acupuncture, but also a potential cellular target for treating both motor and non-motor PD symptoms.
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Parkinson's disease (PD) is a multilayered progressive brain disease characterized by motor dysfunction and a variety of other symptoms. Although acupuncture has been used to ameliorate various symptoms of neurodegenerative disorders, including PD, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, we investigated the mechanism of acupuncture by revealing the effects of acupuncture treatment on brain neural responses and its functional connectivity in an animal model of PD. We observed that destruction of neuronal network between many brain regions in PD mice were reversed by acupuncture. Using machine learning analysis, we found that the key region associated with the improvement of abnormal behaviors might be related to the neural activity of M1, suggesting that the changes of c-Fos in M1 could predict the improvement of motor function induced by acupuncture treatment. In addition, acupuncture treatment was shown to significantly normalize the brain neural activity not only in M1 but also in other brain regions related to motor behavior (striatum, substantia nigra pars compacta, and globus pallidus) and non-motor symptoms (hippocampus, lateral hypothalamus, and solitary tract) of PD. Taken together, our results demonstrate that acupuncture treatment might improve the PD symptoms by normalizing the brain functional connectivity in PD mice model and provide new insights that enhance our current understanding of acupuncture mechanisms for non-motor symptoms.
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Acupuncture has been widely used as a therapeutic intervention, and the brain network plays a crucial role in its neural mechanism. This study aimed to investigate the acupuncture mechanism from peripheral to central by identifying how the peripheral molecular signals induced by acupuncture affect the brain neural responses and its functional connectivity. We confirmed that peripheral ERK activation by acupuncture plays a role in initiating acupuncture-induced peripheral proteomic changes in mice. The brain neural activities in the neocortex, hippocampus, thalamus, hypothalamus, periaqueductal grey, and nucleus of the solitary tract (Sol) were significantly changed after acupuncture, and these were altered by peripheral MEK/MAPK inhibition. The arcuate nucleus and lateral hypothalamus were the most affected by acupuncture and peripheral MEK/MAPK inhibition. The hypothalamic area was the most contributing brain region in contrast task PLS analysis. Acupuncture provoked extensive changes in brain functional connectivity, and the posterior hypothalamus showed the highest betweenness centrality after acupuncture. After brain hub identification, the Sol and cingulate cortex were selected as hub regions that reflect both degree and betweenness centrality after acupuncture. These results suggest that acupuncture activates brain functional connectivity and that peripheral ERK induced by acupuncture plays a role in initiating brain neural activation and its functional connectivity.
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Terapia por Acupuntura/efeitos adversos , Encéfalo/metabolismo , Sistema de Sinalização das MAP Quinases/efeitos dos fármacos , Proteômica , Animais , Encéfalo/diagnóstico por imagem , Hipocampo/metabolismo , Humanos , Hipotálamo/metabolismo , Imageamento por Ressonância Magnética , Camundongos , Neocórtex/metabolismo , Substância Cinzenta Periaquedutal/metabolismo , Núcleo Solitário/metabolismo , Tálamo/metabolismoRESUMO
ABSTRACT: Chronic pain reduces life quality and is an important clinical problem associated with emotional and cognitive dysfunction. Epigenetic regulation of DNA methylation is involved in the induction of abnormal behaviors and pathological gene expression. We examined whether acupuncture can restore epigenetic changes caused by chronic pain, and identified the underlying mechanisms in neuropathic pain mice. Acupuncture treatment for 6 months (3 days/week) improved mechanical/cold allodynia and the emotional/cognitive dysfunction caused by left partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL)-induced neuropathic pain. The effects of acupuncture were associated with global DNA methylation recovery in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). Analysis of DNA methylation patterns in PFC indicated that 1364 overlapping genes among 4442 and 4416 methylated genes in the PSNL vs sham and PSNL vs acupuncture points groups, respectively, were highly associated with the DNA methylation process. Acupuncture restored the reduced expression of 5-methylcytosine, methyl-cytosine-phospho-guanine binding protein 2, and DNA methyltransferase family enzymes induced by PSNL in PFC. Methylation levels of Nr4a1 and Chkb associated with mitochondrial dysfunction were decreased in PFC of the PSNL mice, and increased by acupuncture. By contrast, high expression of Nr4a1 and Chkb mRNA in PSNL mice decreased after acupuncture. We also found that acupuncture inhibited the expression of Ras pathway-related genes such as Rasgrp1 and Rassf1. Finally, the expression of Nr4a1, Rasgrp1, Rassf1, and Chkb mRNA increased in the neuronal cells treated with Mecp2 small interfering RNA. These results suggest that acupuncture can relieve chronic pain-induced comorbid conditions by altering DNA methylation of Nr4a1, Rasgrp1, Rassf1, and Chkb in the PFC.
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Terapia por Acupuntura , Dor Crônica , Neuralgia , Animais , Dor Crônica/genética , Dor Crônica/terapia , Metilação de DNA/genética , Epigênese Genética , Fatores de Troca do Nucleotídeo Guanina , Camundongos , Neuralgia/genética , Neuralgia/terapia , Córtex Pré-FrontalRESUMO
Major depressive disorder is a complex neuropsychiatric disorder with few treatment options. Non-targeted antidepressants have low efficacy and can induce series of side effects. While a neuropeptide, melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH), is known to exhibit regulator of affective state, no study to date has assessed the anti-depressive effects of MCH in a stress-induced depression model. This study aimed to evaluate the pharmacological effects of intranasal administration of MCH on depression-related behavior in stressed rats and mice. Using a number of behavioral tests, we found that MCH treatment significantly decreased anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors induced by stress. Notably, the effects of MCH were equivalent to those of fluoxetine. MCH treatment also restored the activity of the mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) signaling pathway and normalized the levels of synaptic proteins, including postsynaptic density 95, glutamate receptor 1, and synapsin 1, which were all downregulated by stress. Interestingly, the protective effects of MCH were blocked by the mTOR inhibitor, rapamycin. These results suggest that MCH exhibits antidepressant properties by modulating the mTOR pathway. Altogether, this study provides an insight into the molecular mechanisms involved in the antidepressant-like effects of MCH, thereby paving the way for the future clinical application of MCH.
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Despite numerous efforts to overcome neuropathic pain, various pharmacological drugs often fail to meet the needs and have many side effects. Muscovite is an aluminosilicate mineral that has been reported to have an anti-inflammatory effect, but the efficacy of muscovite for neuropathic pain has not been investigated. Here, we assessed whether muscovite nanoparticles can reduce the symptoms of pain by controlling the inflammatory process observed in neuropathic pain. The analgesic effects of muscovite nanoparticles were explored using partial sciatic nerve ligation model of neuropathic pain, in which one-third to one-half of the nerve trifurcation of the sciatic nerve was tightly tied to the dorsal side. Muscovite nanoparticles (4 mg/100 µL) was given intramuscularly to evaluate its effects on neuropathic pain (3 days per week for 4 weeks). The results showed that the muscovite nanoparticle injections significantly alleviated partial sciatic nerve ligation-induced mechanical and cold allodynia. In the spinal cord, the muscovite nanoparticle injections exhibited inhibitory effects on astrocyte and microglia activation and reduced the expression of pro-inflammatory cytokines, such as interleukin-1ß, tumor necrosis factor-α, interleiukin-6 and monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, which were upregulated in the partial sciatic nerve ligation model. Moreover, the muscovite nanoparticle injections resulted in a decrease in activating transcription factor 3, a neuronal injury marker, in the sciatic nerve. These results suggest that the analgesic effects of muscovite nanoparticle on partial sciatic nerve ligation-induced neuropathic pain may result from inhibiting activation of astrocytes and microglia as well as pro-inflammatory cytokines. We propose that muscovite nanoparticle is a potential anti-nociceptive candidate for neuropathic pain. All experimental protocols in this study were approved by the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IACUC) at Dongguk University, South Korea (approval No. 2017-022-1) on September 28, 2017.
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Over the past several decades, clinical studies have shown significant analgesic effects of acupuncture. The efficacy of acupuncture treatment has improved with the recent development of nanoporous needles (PN), which are produced by modifying the needle surface using nanotechnology. Herein, we showed that PN at acupoint ST36 produces prolonged analgesic effects in an inflammatory pain model; the analgesic effects of PN acupuncture were sustained over 2 h, while those using a conventional needle (CN) lasted only 30 min. In addition, the PN showed greater therapeutic effects than CN after 10 acupuncture treatments once per day for 10 days. We explored how the porous surface of the PN contributes to changes in local tissue, which may in turn result in enhanced analgesic effects. We showed that the PN has greater rotational torque and pulling force than the CN, particularly at acupoints ST36 and LI11, situated on thick muscle layers. Additionally, in ex vivo experiments, the PN showed greater winding of subcutaneous connective tissues and muscle layers. Our results suggest that local mechanical forces are augmented by the PN and its nanoporous surface, contributing to the enhanced and prolonged analgesic effects of PN acupuncture.
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The Gami-Chunggan formula (GCF) is a modification of the Chunggan (CG) decoction, which has been used to treat movement disorders such as Parkinson's disease (PD) in Traditional East Asian Medicine. To evaluate the neuroprotective effects of GCF in chronic PD animal models, we used either a 5-week treatment of 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine with probenecid (MPTP/p) or the α-synuclein A53T overexpressed PD mouse model. C57BL/6 mice were treated with MPTP, in combination with probenecid, for 5 weeks. GCF was administered simultaneously with MPTP injection for 38 days. The A53T α-synuclein overexpressed mice were also fed with GCF for 60 days. Using behavioral readouts and western blot analyses, it was observed that GCF prevents motor dysfunction in the MPTP/p-induced and A53T α-synuclein overexpressed mice. Moreover, GCF inhibited the reduction of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra (SN) and fibers in the striatum (ST) against MPTP/p challenge. The expression of DJ-1 was increased but that of α-synuclein was decreased in the SN of PD-like brains by GCF administration. In vitro experiments also showed that GCF inhibited 6-OHDA-induced neurotoxicity in SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cell lines and that it did so to a greater degree than CG. Furthermore, GCF induced BDNF expression through phosphorylation of Akt, ERK, CREB, and AMPK in the SN of PD-like brains. Therefore, use of the herbal medicine GCF offers a potential remedy for neurodegenerative disorders, including Parkinson's disease.
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Growing evidence indicates that neuropathic pain is frequently accompanied by cognitive impairments, which aggravate the quality of life of chronic pain patients. Here, we investigated whether acupuncture treatments can improve cognitive dysfunction as well as allodynia induced by neuropathic pain in mice. One week after the left partial sciatic nerve ligation (PSNL), acupuncture treatments on the acupoints GB30-GB34 (AP1), HT7-GV20 (AP2), or control points (CP) were performed for 4 weeks. Notably, the significant attenuations of mechanical allodynia and cognitive impairment were observed in the AP1 group, but not in PSNL, AP2, or CP groups. A random decision forest classifier based on the pain and cognitive functions displayed that the acupuncture group was clearly segregated from the other groups. We also demonstrated that acupuncture restored the reduced field excitatory post-synaptic potentials and was able to elevate the expression levels of glutamate receptors (NR2B and GluR1) in the hippocampus. Moreover, the expressions of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II and synaptic proteins (pPSD-95 and pSyn-1) were enhanced by acupuncture treatment. These results suggest that acupuncture can enhance hippocampal long-term action through the regulation of the synaptic efficacy and that acupuncture may provide a viable option for managing both pain and cognitive functions associated with chronic neuropathic pain.
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Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a psychiatric disease that can form following exposure to a traumatic event. Acupuncture has been proposed as a beneficial treatment for PTSD, but the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. The present study investigated whether acupuncture improves depression- and anxiety-like behaviors induced using a single prolonged stress (SPS) as a PTSD rat model. In addition, we investigated whether the effects were mediated by increased mTOR activity and its downstream signaling components, which contribute to protein synthesis required for synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus. We found that acupuncture at HT8 significantly alleviated both depression- and anxiety-like behaviors induced by SPS in rats, as assessed by the forced swimming, elevated plus maze, and open field tests; this alleviation was blocked by rapamycin. The effects of acupuncture were equivalent to those exerted by fluoxetine. Acupuncture regulated protein translation in the mTOR signaling pathway and enhanced the activation of synaptic proteins, PSD95, Syn1, and GluR1 in the hippocampus. These results suggest that acupuncture exerts antidepressant and anxiolytic effects on PTSD-related symptoms by increasing protein synthesis required for synaptic plasticity via the mTOR pathway in the hippocampus. Acupuncture may be a promising treatment for patients with PTSD and play a role as an alternative PTSD treatment.
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Transdução de Sinais/fisiologia , Transtornos de Estresse Pós-Traumáticos/metabolismo , Estresse Psicológico/metabolismo , Estresse Psicológico/terapia , Serina-Treonina Quinases TOR/metabolismo , Terapia por Acupuntura/métodos , Animais , Ansiolíticos/metabolismo , Ansiedade/metabolismo , Ansiedade/terapia , Comportamento Animal/fisiologia , Depressão/metabolismo , Depressão/terapia , Transtorno Depressivo/metabolismo , Transtorno Depressivo/terapia , Modelos Animais de Doenças , Medo/fisiologia , Hipocampo/metabolismo , Hipocampo/fisiopatologia , Masculino , Aprendizagem em Labirinto/fisiologia , Ratos , Ratos Sprague-DawleyRESUMO
The melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) is a peptidergic neuromodulator synthesized by neurons in the lateral hypothalamus and zona incerta. MCHergic neurons project throughout the central nervous system, indicating the involvements of many physiological functions, but the role in pain has yet to be determined. In this study, we found that pMCH-/- mice showed lower baseline pain thresholds to mechanical and thermal stimuli than did pMCH+/+ mice, and the time to reach the maximum hyperalgesic response was also significantly earlier in both inflammatory and neuropathic pain. To examine its pharmacological properties, MCH was administered intranasally into mice, and results indicated that MCH treatment significantly increased mechanical and thermal pain thresholds in both pain models. Antagonist challenges with naltrexone (opioid receptor antagonist) and AM251 (cannabinoid 1 receptor antagonist) reversed the analgesic effects of MCH in both pain models, suggesting the involvement of opioid and cannabinoid systems. MCH treatment also increased the expression and activation of CB1R in the medial prefrontal cortex and dorsolateral- and ventrolateral periaqueductal grey. The MCH1R antagonist abolished the effects induced by MCH. This is the first study to suggest novel analgesic actions of MCH, which holds great promise for the application of MCH in the therapy of pain-related diseases.
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Analgésicos/farmacologia , Hormônios Hipotalâmicos/farmacologia , Melaninas/farmacologia , Percepção da Dor/efeitos dos fármacos , Hormônios Hipofisários/farmacologia , Administração Intranasal , Analgésicos/administração & dosagem , Animais , Hormônios Hipotalâmicos/administração & dosagem , Hormônios Hipotalâmicos/deficiência , Melaninas/administração & dosagem , Melaninas/deficiência , Camundongos , Camundongos Knockout , Hormônios Hipofisários/administração & dosagem , Hormônios Hipofisários/deficiênciaRESUMO
Atopic dermatitis (AD) is highly comorbid with negative emotions such as anxiety and depression. Although acupuncture has demonstrated efficacy in AD, its influence on comorbid anxiety and depression remains unclear. We sought to explore the impact and mechanisms of action of acupuncture on comorbid anxiety and depression of AD. AD-like skin lesions were induced by the topical application of MC903 to the mouse cheek. Acupuncture was performed at Gok-Ji (LI11) acupoints. AD-like phenotypes were quantified by lesion scores, scratching behavior, and histopathological changes. The effects of acupuncture on comorbid anxiety and depression-like behaviors were assessed using the elevated plus-maze (EPM), open-field tests (OFT), and tail-suspension test (TST). In addition, biochemical changes in the brain reward regions were investigated by immunoblotting for the expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dopamine D1 receptor (D1R), phospho-dopamine and cAMP-regulated phosphoprotein-32 kDa (pDARPP-32), phospho-cAMP response element binding protein (pCREB), ΔFosB, and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the nucleus accumbens, dorsolateral striatum, and ventral tegmental area. Acupuncture effectively improved the chronic itching and robust AD-like skin lesions with epidermal thickening. Additionally, it considerably reduced comorbid anxiety- and depression-like symptoms, as indicated by more time spent in the open arms of the EPM and in the center of the open field and less time spent immobile in the TST. Higher pCREB, ΔFosB, BDNF, and pDARPP-32 levels, and reduced TH and D1R protein expression in the brain reward regions of AD mice were reversed by acupuncture treatment. The beneficial effects of acupuncture on clinical symptoms (scratching behavior) and comorbid psychological distress in AD strongly correlated with dorsal striatal ΔFosB levels. Collectively, these data indicate that acupuncture had a significant, positive impact on comorbid anxiety- and depression-like behaviors by modulating neuroadaptation in the brain reward circuit in mice with AD, providing a novel perspective for the non-pharmacological management of psychiatric comorbidities of AD.