Signal Transduction Pathways of Acupuncture for Treating Some Nervous System Diseases

Table 3

Signal transduction pathways of acupuncture in treating seizure.

Subjects	Location	Acupoint	Intervention	Time of intervention	Signal pathway	Main results	Author, reference
Male, SD rats, lithium-pilocarpine injection	dentate gyrus	ST36	EA, 1-20mA, 4/20Hz	30min, QD for 30,45,60 days	activation of GAD 67	elevation of GAD67 mRNA; anti-epileptic	Guo J, et al. 2008[85]
Male, SD rats, kainic acid injection	prefrontal cortex, hippocampus, and somatosensory cortex	auricular acupoint	Auricular EA, 2 and 15Hz	20min, QD, 3 days/wk for 3 wks	inactivation of TLR 4 pathway	depression of pCaMKIIα, pERK, pp38, pJNK, pNFκB; anti-epileptic	Liao ET, et al. 2018[94]
Male, SD rats, intraperitoneal injection of pentylenetetrazol	hippocampal CA 1 and CA 3	GV20, GV14	MA	QD for 5 days	activation of PI3 K/Akt pathway	increase pyramidal cells	Yang, F, et al. 2013[95]
Male, SD rats, kainic acid injection	hippocampal CA1 areas	Auricular acupoint	EA, 2Hz	20min, 3 days/wk for 6wks	Inactivation of TRPA1, pPKCα, pPKCε, and pERk1/2 pathways	elevation of PKCα; depression of TRPA1, PKCε, pERK1/2; anti-epileptic	Lin YW, et al. 2014[93]
Male, SD rats, intraperitoneal injection of pentylenetetrazol	hippocampal CA 1 region	GV20, GV14	MA	30min	balance of GRP78 and CHOP	elevation of GRP 78 protein; depression of CHOP; neuroprotection	Yang F, et al. 2014[96]
Male, newly-born SD rats, pentylenetetrazol intraperitoneal injection	hippocampus	GV20, GV14	MA	QD for 7 days	balance of GRP78 and CHOP	elevation of GRP 78 protein; depression of CHOP, caspase-12; anti-apoptosis	Zhang, H, et al. 2017[97]

Abbreviations
Akt: protein kinase B; CaMK: Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase; CHOP: C/-EBP homologous protein; COX: cyclooxygenase; EA: electroacupuncture; ERK: extracellular signal-regulated kinase; GAD67: glutamic acid decarboxylase 67; GRP78: glucose-regulated protein 78; IL: interleukin; JNK: c-Jun N-terminal kinases; MA: manual acupuncture; NF-κB: nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells; p38 MAPKs: p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases; PI3K: phosphatidylinositol-4,5-bisphosphate 3-kinase; PKC: protein kinase C; QD: daily; QOD: every other day; SD rat: Sprague Dawley rat; TLR4: Toll-like receptor 4; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-alpha; TRPA: transient receptor potential ankyrin 1.