Electroacupuncture attenuates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting microglial engulfment of dendritic spines

Fan Zhang; Qian-Yi Wang; Jie Zhou; Xiang Zhou; Xia Wei; Ling Hu; Hong-Liang Cheng; Qing Yu; Rong-Lin Cai

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2023.107645

Electroacupuncture attenuates myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting microglial engulfment of dendritic spines

iScience. 2023 Aug 17;26(9):107645. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2023.107645. eCollection 2023 Sep 15.

Authors

Fan Zhang¹, Qian-Yi Wang¹, Jie Zhou¹, Xiang Zhou¹, Xia Wei¹, Ling Hu², Hong-Liang Cheng³, Qing Yu², Rong-Lin Cai^{2

4}

Affiliations

¹ College of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
² Institute of Acupuncture and Meridian Research, Anhui Academy of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
³ The Affiliated Hospital of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, Anhui Province, China.
⁴ Key Laboratory of Xin'an Medicine, Ministry of Education, Anhui University of Chinese Medicine, Hefei, China.

Abstract

A major side effect of reperfusion therapy following myocardial infarction is myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury (MIRI). Electroacupuncture preconditioning (EA-pre) has a long history in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases. Here, we demonstrate how EA-pre attenuates MIRI by affecting the phagocytosis of neuronal dendritic spines of microglia of the fastigial nucleus (FN^microglia). We observed that EA-pre increased activity in FN^GABA and then improved myocardial injury by inhibiting abnormal activities of glutaminergic neurons of the FN (FN^Glu) during MIRI. Interestingly, we observed changes in the quantity and shape of FN microglia in mice treated with EA-pre and a decrease in the phagocytosis of FN^GABA neuronal dendritic spines by microglia. Furthermore, the effects of improving MIRI were reversed when EA-pre mice were chemically activated by intra-FN lipopolysaccharide injection. Overall, our results provide new insight indicating that EA-pre regulates microglial engulfment capacity, thus promoting the improvement of cardiac sympathetic nervous disorder during MIRI.

Keywords: Alternative medicine; Cardiovascular medicine; Molecular neuroscience.