Signal Transduction Pathways of Acupuncture for Treating Some Nervous System Diseases

Table 4

Signal transduction pathways of acupuncture in treating depression.

Subjects	Location	Acupoint	Intervention	Time of intervention	Signal pathway	Main results	Author, reference
SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus, frontal cortex	GV20, EX-HN3, PC6	- -	QOD for 28 days	activation of BDNF pathway	elevation of BDNF mRNA and protein; neural regeneration	Liang J, et al. 2012[104]
Male, SD rats, CUS	hippocampus	LI4, LR3	EA	QD for 21 days	regulation of soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment receptor proteins	depression of SNAP25, VAMP1, VAMP2, VAMP7, and syntaxin1	Fan L, et al. 2016[106]
SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus	GV20, EX-HN3	EA, 0.6mA, 2Hz	20min, QD for 21 days	activation of NO-cGMP pathway	elevation of nNOS, cGMP; normalize activity of the NO/cGMP pathway	Han YJ, et al. 2009[107]
Male, SD rats, CUS	hippocampus	GV20, PC6	- -	QD for 28 days	Inactivation of NF-κB inflammatory pathway	depression of NF-κB, COX-2, prostaglandin; inhibition of pro-inflammatory pathway	Shao RH, et al. 2015[108]
Male, SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus, prefrontal cortex	GV20, PC6	MA, rotated 2Hz for 1 min and retained	10min, QOD for 28 days	activation of ERK-CREB pathway	elevation of ratio of p-ERK1/2 to ERK1/2, ratio of p-CREB to CREB; influence BDNF expression	Lu J, et al. 2013[109]
Male, SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus	GV20, GB34	EA, 0.3mA, 2/100Hz	30min, QD for 14 days	activation of ERK pathway	elevation of p-ERK; neural stem cells proliferation	Yang L, et al. 2013[110]
Male, SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus	GV20, EX-HN3	EA, 1-3mA, 2Hz	15 min, QD for 14 days	modulation of the p-ERK1/2 and p-p38MAPK pathway	elevation of p-ERK1/2, p-p38	Xu J, et al. 2015[111]
Male, SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus	GV20, GV29	MA, 2Hz for 1min	10min, QD for 21 days	activation of ERK pathway	elevation of -ERK1/2, CREB, and p-CREB; neurotrophy and neurogenesis	Zhang X, et al. 2016[112]
Male, SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus	GV20, GV29	EA, 0.6mA, 2Hz	20min, QD for 21 days	Activation of MAPK/ERK pathway	elevation of BDNF, ERK, pERK, ribosomal s6 kinase; augmentation of BDNF pathway, neurogenesis, anti-apoptosis	Li W, et al. 2017[113]
Male, specific pathogen-free SD rats, CRS	hippocampus	GV20, GV29	EA, 1mA, 2Hz	pre-stress, 20min, QD for 28 days	modulation of MAPK/ERK pathway	elevation of MAPT; depression of PKC; inhibition of cell differentiation and proliferation	Yang X, et al. 2017[114]
Male, SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus	GV20, GV29	EA	21 days	inactivation of JNK pathway	depression of p-JNK; anti-apoptosis	Dai W, et al. 2010[115]
Male, SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus	GV20, GV29	acupuncture	20 min, QD	inactivation of JNK pathway	depression of p-JNK protein, MKK 4, MKK 7 protein	Guo Y, et al. 2016[116]
Male, SD rats	hippocampus, serum	GV20, EX-HN1, ST36, ST40	EA	QOD for 21 days	regulation of hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis	elevation of cortisol, PKA, PKC	Lu F, et al. 2008[117]
Male, SD rats, chronic mild stress	hippocampus	LI4, LR3	EA, 2/20 Hz	30min, QOD for 42 days	activation of AC-cAMP-PKA pathway	activation of AC-cAMP-PKA pathway	Liu JH, et al. 2012[118]
Male, SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus	GV20, EX-HN3	EA, 0.6mA, 2Hz	30min, QD for 14, 28 days	activation of CREB and BDNF pathways	elevation of BDNF, TrkB, PKA, pCREB; depression of CaMKII; anti-apoptosis, neuroprotection	Duan DM, et al. 2016[119]
Male, SD rats, CUMS	hippocampus	GV20, EX-HN3	MA,	pre-stress, 30min for 21 days	Activation of PKA/CREB pathway	elevation of PKA-α and p-CREB	Jiang H, et al. 2017[120]
Male, SD rats, Single prolonged stress	Hippocampus, serum	HT8	MA, rotate 2Hz for 30sec	QD	activation of mTOR pathway	elevation of corticosterone(serum), corticotropin-releasing factor, mTOR phosphorylation, Akt, ERK, p70S6K, p4E-BP-1, CREB, PSD95, Syn1, GluR1; increase synaptic plasticity	Oh JY, et al. 2018[121]
Male, Wistar rats, CUMS	hippocampus and serum	GV20, EX-HN3	EA, 1mA, 2Hz, pre-stress	60min, QD for 28 days	Regulation of neurotrophin signaling pathway, MAPK/ERK pathway and PI3K/Akt pathway	depression of miR-383-5p and miR-764-5p; activation of neurotrophy and inhibition of abnormal apoptosis	Duan DM, et al. 2017[122]
Male, SD rats, CRS	hippocampus	GV20, EX-HN3	not mentioned	20min, QD for 28 days	down regulation of toll-like receptor signalling pathway and nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain-like receptor pathway	regulating inflammatory response, innate immunity and immune response	Wang Y, et al. 2017[123]
Male, SD rats, CRS	frontal cortex	GV20, GV29	MA	pre-stress, 20min, QD for 28 days	Toll-like receptor pathway, TNF pathway, NF-κB pathway	inhibition of inflammatory process	Wang Y, et al. 2017[124]

Abbreviations
AC: adenyl cyclase; Akt: protein kinase B; BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor; CaMK: Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase; cAM: cyclic adenosine monophosphate; cGMP: cyclic guanosine monophosphate; COX: cyclooxygenase; CREB: phosphorylated cyclic AMP response element-binding protein; CRS: chronic restraint stress; CUMS: chronic unpredictable mild stress; CUS: chronic unpredictable stress; EA: electroacupuncture; ERK: extracellular signal-regulated kinase; JNK: c-Jun N-terminal kinases; MA: manual acupuncture; MAPK: mitogen-activated protein kinases; MAPT: microtubule-associated protein Tau; mRNA: messenger ribonucleic acid; mTOR: mammalian target of rapamycin; NF-κB: nuclear factor kappa-light-chain-enhancer of activated B cells; nNOS: neuronal nitric oxide synthase; NO: nitric oxide; p38 MAPKs: p38 mitogen-activated protein kinases; PKA: protein kinase A; PKC: protein kinase C; QD: daily; QOD: every other day; SD rat: Sprague Dawley rat; TrkB: tyrosine receptor kinase B; VAMP: vesicle-associated membrane protein.