The protective effects of electro-acupuncture in thoracic surgery on trauma stressed rats involve the rostral ventrolateral medulla and supraoptic nucleus

Therapeutic Effect and Mechanism of Acupuncture in Autoimmune Diseases

Autoimmune diseases (AIDs) are conditions arising from abnormal immune reactions to autoantigens, which can be defined as the loss of immune tolerance to autoantigens, causing the production of autoantibodies and subsequent inflammation and tissue injury. The etiology of AIDs remains elusive, which may involve both genetic and environmental factors, such as diet, drugs, and infections. Despite rapid progress in the treatment of autoimmune diseases over the past few decades, there is still no approach that can cure AIDs. As an alternative approach, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) such as acupuncture has been used in an attempt to treat AIDs including multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and the results have proven to be quite promising, despite the fact that its mechanism is still not fully understood. In this review, the present knowledge regarding mechanisms of acupuncture in the treatment of AIDs has been summarized, and deeper insights will be provided in order to better understand how acupuncture may regulate immune responses during AIDs.

GluN2A/ERK/CREB Signaling Pathway Involved in Electroacupuncture Regulating Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal Axis Hyperactivity

The hyperactivity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis caused by stress will inevitably disrupt the homeostasis of the neuroendocrine system and damage physiological functions. It has been demonstrated that electroacupuncture (EA) can modulate HPA axis hyperactivity during the perioperative period. As the initiating factor of the HPA axis, hypothalamic corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) is the critical molecule affected by EA. However, the mechanism by which EA reduces CRH synthesis and secretion remains unclear. Activated N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) has been linked to over-secretion of hypothalamic CRH induced by stress. To determine whether NMDAR is involved in EA regulating the over-expression of CRH, a surgical model of partial hepatectomy (HT) was established in our experiment. The effect of EA on hypothalamic NMDAR expression in HT mice was examined. Then, we investigated whether the extracellular regulated protein kinases (ERK)/cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element-binding protein (CREB) signaling pathway mediated by NMDAR was involved in EA regulating HPA axis hyperactivity. It was found that surgery enhanced the expression of hypothalamic CRH and caused HPA axis hyperactivity. Intriguingly, EA effectively suppressed the expression of CRH and decreased the activation of GluN2A (NMDAR subunit), ERK, and CREB in HT mice. GluN2A, ERK, and CREB antagonists had similar effects on normalizing the expression of CRH and HPA axis function compared with EA. Our findings suggested that surgery enhanced the activation of the hypothalamic GluN2A/ERK/CREB signaling pathway, thus promoting the synthesis and secretion of CRH. EA suppressed the phosphorylation of GluN2A, ERK, and CREB in mice that had undergone surgery, indicating that the GluN2A/ERK/CREB signaling pathway was involved in EA alleviating HPA axis hyperactivity.