| BackgroundAlzheimer’s disease (AD) is a chronic progressive neurodegenerative disease, which always happens in the patients over 65 years old. Patients will suffer from short-term memory loss atbegining, while some further development diseases, learning and memory function loss can be observed, which including confusion, judgment disorder, language disorders, anxiety, obsessive-compulsive disorder and hallucinations, even mania and depression. According to the survey held by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International association of Alzheimer’s Disease (ADI) in 2015, more than 46 million people suffer from dementia worldwide, the proportion of Asia accounts for the largest part. In the coming 2050, the number of patients with dementia worldwide will be 131.5 million. Alzheimer’s disease is the most important fact for dementia, and it also has been the sixth leading cause of death. Although scientists have done a lot of researches on this area, we still haven’t found the best treatment for AD.Moxibustion therapy, as an important part of Chinese medicine, has been playing an important role in Chinese medical and has been used for treating AD for many years. An amount related researches and our previous studies have proved that moxibustion and moxa smoke can improve the body’s oxidative stress state, strengthen the protection function of neurons and antiapoptotic. The purpose of this experiment is to observe APP/PS1 Alzhermer model mice of energy metabolism through the PI3K/AKT pathway after treated by different factors of moxibustion.ObjectiveTo determine the effects and further investigate the mechanism of two different parts of moxibustion, namely moxa smoke and heat, on learning and memory behavior, PI3K/AKT pathway in the cortex of APP/PS1 male mice.MethodsEight wide-type C57BL/6 normal mice served as normal control group while 32 APP/PS1 Alzhermer model mice were randomly divided into four groups(n=8/group),1) No-treatment control group,2) Moxibustion group,3)Moxa smoke group,4)Heat-treatment group. Treatments were given 20 mins a day,6 days a week for 8 weeks. In group2 and 3, the moxa stick was aimed above acupoint Guanyuan(CV4). In group 3, mice were exposed to moxa smoke (10～15mg/m3), while in groupl and normal control group, no treatment was given. The open-field test was conducted in the 9th week. ELIS A technique was used to detect the level of IRS-1、PI3K、AKT、GSK-3α、IDE. β-amyloid was evaluated using Congo red staining.Results1. Behavioral testCompare to the normal control group, mice of group 1 demonstrated lower auditory system excitation and worse ability of learning and memory. In the open field test, mice in group 2 moved longer distance than that in groupl, rise head and stood up more often than that in group1.2. PI3K/AKT pathwayCompare to group 1, mice in group 2, group3 and group 4 had significant higher levels of IRS-1、PI3K、AKT and lower levels of GSK-3a.3. IDEComparing with group 1, mice in group 4 had significant higher levels of IDE.4. β-amyloidMice in group 1 expressed a lot aggregation of β-amyloid while mice in normal control group had none aggregation of β-amyloid. Mice in group 2, group 3, group 4 got less aggregation of β-amyloid.Conclusion1. Moxibustion can improve auditory system excitation and ability of learning and memory in APP/PS1 AD mice.2. Moxibustion, moxa smoke and heat-treatment moxibustion play equal role of delaying the pathological process Alzheimer’s disease by PI3K/AKT pathway and can got less aggregation of β-amyloid. |
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