Acupuncture-mediated inhibition of inflammation facilitates significant functional recovery after spinal cord injury

• Published in: Neurobiology of disease Vol. 39; no. 3; pp. 272 - 282
• Main Authors: Choi, Doo C, Lee, Jee Y, Moon, Youn J, Kim, Shin W, Oh, Tae H, Yune, Tae Y
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.09.2010; Elsevier
• Subjects: Acupuncture Therapy; Analysis of Variance; Animals; Apoptosis; BBB; Blotting, Western; Caspase 3 - metabolism; Cytokines - metabolism; Inflammation; Inflammation - metabolism; Inflammation - pathology; Inflammation - physiopathology; Inflammation - therapy; Male; Matrix metalloprotease-9; Matrix Metalloproteinase 9 - metabolism; Microglia; Microglia - metabolism; Microglia - pathology; Motor Activity - physiology; Neurology; Neurons - metabolism; Neurons - pathology; Oligodendroglia - metabolism; Oligodendroglia - pathology; p38MAPK; Proinflammatory cytokines; proNGF; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Recovery of Function; Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; Signal Transduction; Spinal Cord - metabolism; Spinal Cord - pathology; Spinal Cord - physiopathology; Spinal Cord Injuries - metabolism; Spinal Cord Injuries - pathology; Spinal Cord Injuries - physiopathology; Spinal Cord Injuries - therapy; Thoracic Vertebrae; Treatment Outcome; TUNEL; BBB; TUNEL; proNGF; Inflammation; Proinflammatory cytokines; Matrix metalloprotease-9; p38MAPK; Apoptosis; Microglia
• ISSN: 0969-9961; 1095-953X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.nbd.2010.04.003

Abstract Here, we first demonstrated the neuroprotective effect of acupuncture after SCI. Acupuncture applied at two specific acupoints, Shuigou (GV26) and Yanglingquan (GB34) significantly alleviated apoptotic cell death of neurons and oligodendrocytes, thereby leading to improved functional recovery after SCI. Acupuncture also inhibited caspase-3 activation and reduced the size of lesion cavity and extent of loss of axons. We also found that the activation of both p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase and resident microglia after injury are significantly attenuated by acupuncture. In addition, acupuncture significantly reduced the expression or activation of pro-nerve growth factor, proinflammatory factors such as tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, interleukin-6, nitric oxide synthase, cycloxygenase-2, and matrix metalloprotease-9 after SCI. Thus, our results suggest that the neuroprotection by acupuncture may be partly mediated via inhibition of inflammation and microglial activation after SCI and acupuncture can be used as a potential therapeutic tool for treating acute spinal injury in human.