Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into control group,
sham-operation group, model group, and
electroacupuncture treatment group, with 12 rats in each group. A rat model of AD was established by injection of Aβ25-35 into the bilateral hippocampus. The rats in the
electroacupuncture treatment group were given
electroacupuncture at "Baihui" (GV20) and "Shenshu" (BL23) once a day, 15 min each time, for 10 days. Morris water maze was used to evaluate learning and memory abilities, immunohistochemistry was used to measure the distribution and expression of P35/P25, CDK5, and Tau5 in the hippocampus, and Western blot was used to measure the expression of the above mentioned
proteins, phosphory-lated Tau(Ser199, Ser202).
RESULTS: In the visual platform test, there were no significant differences in escape latency and search path between groups (P>0.05). In the hidden platform test, there were no significant differences in escape latency and search path between the control group and the
sham-operation group (P>0.05); the model group had significantly longer escape latency and search path than the control group and the
sham-operation group (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, the
electroacupuncture treatment group had significantly shorter escape latency and search path (P<0.05). In the spatial exploration test, there was no significant difference in the number of platform crossings between the control group and the
sham-operation group (P<0.05). The model group had a significantly lower number of platform crossings than the control group and the
sham-operation group (P<0.01, P<0.05). The
electroacupuncture treatment group had a significantly higher number of platform crossings than the model group (P<0.05). Compared with the control group and the
sham-operation group, the model group had significant increases in the
protein expression of P35/P25 and CDK5 (P<0.001), and the
electroacupuncture treatment group had significant reductions compared with the model group (P<0.001). There was no significant difference in the
protein expression of Tau5 between groups (P>0.05). The model group had significantly higher
protein expression of phosphorylated Tau(Ser199, Ser202) in the hippocampus than the control group and the
sham-operation group (P<0.01, P<0.05). The
electroacupuncture treatment group had significantly lower
protein expression of phosphorylated Tau(Ser199,Ser202) than the model group (P<0.05, P<0.01).
CONCLUSION: