Effect of Electroacupuncture Pretreatment on Cognitive Impairment and Mitophagy in Aging Model Rats and its mechanism

Abstract

ObjectiveInvestigate the effects of "Shuanggu Yitong" EA pretreatment on cognitive impairment, mitochondrial function, and mitophagy in aging model rats, and to analyze the related mechanisms. MethodsForty 3-month-old male SD rats were randomly divided into a blank group, a model group, an EA group, and a sham EA group, with 10 rats in each group. And the Morris water maze test was performed after the intervention. HE staining, to observe the morphological changes of the hippocampus of the model rats. Nissl staining was used to observe the changes in the number of hippocampal neurons in rats, Western Blotting (WB) was used to observe the expression of endogenous PTEN-induced hypothetical kinase 1 (PINK1) and human Parkinsons protein 2 (Parkin) in the hippocampus, spectrophotometry was employed to detect the activity of respiratory chain complex I in the hippocampus of the model rats, and flow cytometry was utilized to detect hippocampal mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and hippocampal mitochondrial permeability transition pore (MPTP) opening. Results"Shuanggu Yitong" EA pretreatment relieved the cognitive impairment induced by D-galactose in subacute aging model rats. The mechanism of "Shuanggu Yitong" EA pretreatment in the improvement of cognitive impairment of subacute aging model rats may be related to the enhancement of Pink1/Parkin mediated mitophagy and the timely removal of accumulated abnormal mitochondria, thus improving mitochondrial function. Conclusion"Shuanggu Yitong" EA pretreatment can significantly improve the cognitive impairment induced by D-galactose in subacute aging model rats.