Effects of Acupuncture on Alzheimer’s Disease in Animal-Based Research

Table 1

Acupoint targets of EA and MA for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). GV14 and GV20 single-point EA stimulation and multipoint EA stimulation of BL23, GV26, and EX-HN3 have been preclinically studied for the treatment of AD. Single-point MA stimulation of GV20, ST36, and HT7 has also been evaluated in rodent models of AD.

	AD model	Acupoint	Frequency	Action mechanism
EA	SAMP8 [14–16]	GV14, BL23	−2 Hz, 1 mA	AMPK ↑, SIRT1, PGC1a ↓; BACE1 ↓
	Aβ1-40 injection [17, 24]	GV20, BL23	−20 Hz, 2 mA; −2 Hz, 1 mA	Bcl2 ↑, BAX ↓, Notch ↓; PPAR-gamma ↑,; p-p38MAPK ↓
	SAMP8 [18]	GV20, GV26, EX-HN3	−2 Hz, 0.6 mA	Glucose metabolism ↑
	APP/PS1 [20, 21, 23]	GV20	−2/15 Hz, 1 mA	NDRG2 ↓; BDNF ↑, P75 ↑, pTRK-B ↓
MA	Scopolamine injection [19]	GV20	–	BDNF ↑, CREB ↑, cholinergic system ↑
	D-Galactose injection [22]	ST36	60–90 twist/min	Glycerol metabolism ↑
	D-Galactose injection [25]	HT7	120–150 twist/min	Glucose metabolism ↑