Acupuncture Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Acupuncture, including details on alternative medicine, uses, benefits, treatment, chinese medicine.

Acupuncture prevents cognitive deficits and oxidative stress in cerebral multi-infarction rats.

Liu CZ, Yu JC, Zhang XZ, Fu WW, Wang T, Han JX

Gerontological Department, The First Hospital affiliated to Tianjin College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, 314 West Anshan Avenue, China. lcz623780@eyou.com

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of acupuncture on cognitive deficits and oxidative stress in cerebral multi-infarction rats. The results showed that acupunctural treatment attenuated memory impairment induced by cerebral multi-infarction, as evaluated by shortened escape latency and increased swimming time of rats with memory impairment in the target quadrant. The data additionally suggested that acupunctural treatment ameliorated oxidative injuries induced by cerebral multi-infarction by increasing the activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GSH-Px) in the hippocampus. Further investigation by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry revealed that acupunctural treatment significantly increased the expression of CuZnSOD mRNA and protein in the hippocampus of the impaired rats. The findings demonstrate that acupuncture can exert beneficial effects on spatial memory and antioxidant status of cerebral multi-infarction rats.

Published 6 December 2005 in Neurosci Lett, 393(1): 45-50.
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