Mechanisms by Which Electroacupuncture Alleviates Neurovascular Unit Injury after Ischemic Stroke: A Potential Therapeutic Strategy for Ischemic Brain Injury after Stroke

Qing Xu^1,†, Mengchen Guo^2,†, Changzhuo Feng³, Sheng Tu⁴, Anwen Shao^5,*, Anke Zhang^5,*, Yongzhi Deng^1,6,*

Show Less

¹ College of Acupuncture and Massage, Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, 130117 Changchun, Jilin, China

² Department of Dermatology, Tongji Hospital, School of Medicine, Tongji University, 200092 Shanghai, China

³ Department of Chinese Medicine Internal Medicine, The Affiliated Hospital to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, 130021 Changchun, Jilin, China

⁴ State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, The First Affiliated Hospital, College of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 310027 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

⁵ Department of Neurosurgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, 310009 Hangzhou, Zhejiang, China

⁶ Department of Acupuncture, The Third Affiliated Hospital to Changchun University of Chinese Medicine, 130117 Changchun, Jilin, China

^*Correspondence: shaoanwen@zju.edu.cn (Anwen Shao); theanke@163.com (Anke Zhang); dyz1028@126.com (Yongzhi Deng)
^†These authors contributed equally.

J. Integr. Neurosci. 2024, 23(2), 31; https://doi.org/10.31083/j.jin2302031

Submitted: 15 July 2023 | Revised: 24 August 2023 | Accepted: 31 August 2023 | Published: 18 February 2024

This is an open access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.

Abstract

Stroke is the most common cerebrovascular disease and one of the leading causes of death and disability worldwide. The current conventional treatment for stroke involves increasing cerebral blood flow and reducing neuronal damage; however, there are no particularly effective therapeutic strategies for rehabilitation after neuronal damage. Therefore, there is an urgent need to identify a novel alternative therapy for stroke. Acupuncture has been applied in China for 3000 years and has been widely utilized in the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases. Accumulating evidence has revealed that acupuncture holds promise as a potential therapeutic strategy for stroke. In our present review, we focused on elucidating the possible mechanisms of acupuncture in the treatment of ischemic stroke, including nerve regeneration after brain injury, inhibition of inflammation, increased cerebral blood flow, and subsequent rehabilitation.

Keywords

ischemic stroke

electroacupuncture

inflammation

nervous system

rehabilitation

Figures

Fig. 1.

Previous article in this issue

Next article in this issue

Fig. 1.

Anti-inflammatory effects of EA. EA, Electroacupuncture; GFAP, glial fibrillary acidic protein; M1, M1 microglia; M2, M2 microglia; CI/R, cerebral infarction/reperfusion; DAMPs, damage-related molecular patterns; MAPK, mitogen-activated protein kinase; ERK, extracellular regulatory protein kinase; TLR4, Toll-like receptor 4; NF- $\kappa{}$ B, enhanced $\kappa{}$ -light chain in B cells activated by nuclear factor; a7nAChR, a7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor; HMGB1, high mobility group protein B1; AchE, acetylcholinesterase; IS, ischemic stroke; ANS, autonomic nervous system; BM, bowel movement; BBB, blood brain barrier; $\gamma{}$ $\delta{}$ T, T cell subpopulation; IL17, interleukin 17; Treg, regulatory T cell; IL10, interleukin 10; ICAM-1, intercellular cell adhesion molecule-1; P-selection, platelet p-selectin; BDNF-TrkG, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-tyrosine kinase receptor B (TrkB); DOR, delta-opioid receptor; CB1, type I cannabinoid receptor; CB2, type II cannabinoid receptor; NMDAR, N-methyl-D-aspartate type glutamate receptor; ATP, adenosine triphosphate; ROS, reactive oxygen species.

1 of 1

J. Integr. Neurosci. Print ISSN 0219-6352 Electronic ISSN 1757-448X