The effect of electroacupuncture at ST25 on Parkinson's disease constipation through regulation of autophagy in the enteric nervous system

Anat Rec (Hoboken). 2023 Dec;306(12):3214-3228. doi: 10.1002/ar.25148. Epub 2023 Jan 19.

Abstract
in English, Chinese

The effectiveness and safety of electroacupuncture (EA) for constipation have been confirmed by numerous clinical studies and experiments, and there are also studies on the efficacy of EA for Parkinson's disease (PD) motor symptoms. However, there are few researches on EA for PD constipation. Autophagy is thought to be involved in the mechanistic process of EA in the central nervous system (CNS) intervention in Parkinson's pathology. However, whether it has the same effect on the enteric nervous system (ENS) has not been elucidated. Therefore, we investigated whether EA at Tianshu (ST25) acupoint promotes the clearance of α-Syn and damaged mitochondria aggregated in the ENS in a model of rotenone-induced PD constipation. This study evaluated constipation symptoms by stool characteristics, excretion volume, and water content, and the expression levels of colonic ATG5, LC3II, and Parkin were detected by Western Blot (WB) and Real-Time Quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The relationship between the location of α-Syn and Parkin in the colonic ENS was observed by immunofluorescence (IF). The results showed that EA intervention significantly relieved the symptoms of rotenone-induced constipation in PD rats, reversed the rotenone-induced down-regulation of colonic ATG5, LC3II, and Parkin expression, and the positional relationship between colonic α-Syn and Parkin proved to be highly correlated. It is suggested that EA might be helpful in treating PD constipation by modulating Parkin-induced mitochondrial autophagy.

目前电针治疗便秘的有效性和安全性得到大量临床研究和实验结果的证实, 对于帕金森病运动症状的疗效也有相关研究。然而电针治疗帕金森便秘的研究却相对较少。自噬被认为参与了电针在中枢干预帕金森病理的机制过程。然而, 其在肠神经系统是否有相同效果尚未阐明。因此, 我们研究了在鱼藤酮诱导的帕金森便秘模型中, 电针天枢穴是否对肠神经α-Syn和受损线粒体的清除起到促进作用。在本研究中, 我们通过粪便性状、排出量和含水量评价便秘症状；采用蛋白质免疫印迹(WB)和实时荧光定量PCR(RT-qPCR)检测结肠ATG5、LC3II和Parkin水平, 并用免疫荧光双标法观察α-Syn和Parkin在结肠ENS的位置关系。结果显示, 电针干预显著改善了鱼藤酮诱导的PD大鼠便秘症状, 并逆转了鱼藤酮诱导的结肠ATG5、LC3II和Parkin表达下调, 并且结肠α-Syn和Parkin的位置关系高度相关。提示电针对PD便秘的治疗可能是通过调节Parkin诱导的线粒体自噬介导的。.

Keywords: Parkin; Parkinson's disease constipation; acupuncture; autophagy; rotenone; α-Syn; α-突触核蛋白; 关键词; 帕金森便秘; 自噬; 针灸; 鱼藤酮.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Constipation / therapy
  • Electroacupuncture* / methods
  • Enteric Nervous System*
  • Parkinson Disease* / therapy
  • Rats
  • Rotenone / toxicity
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases

Substances

  • Rotenone
  • Ubiquitin-Protein Ligases