Effect of Moxibustion Pretreatment on Expression of NGF and BDNF in Hippocampus CA1 of Alzheimer Disease Model Rats

Objective: To evaluate the effects of moxibustion pretreatment at Baihui(GV20) and Shenshu(BL23) on the expression of NGF and BDNF in hippocampus CA1 of the Alzheimer disease(AD) model rats.Methods: Forty male adult SD rats were randomly and equally allocated into normal,sham operation,model and moxibustion pretreatment groups.After 40 times of moxibustion pretreatment at Baihui and Shenshu,bilateral hippocampi of moxibustion pretreatment and model rats were one-off injected with condensed Aβ1-42 to establish the rat AD models.Morris' water maze test was used to evaluate the learning and memory ability of rats.The expression of NGF and BDNF in the CA1 region of the hippocampus was detected by using immunohistochemical techniques.Results: As compared with normal and sham operation groups,learning and memory ability and the number of NGF and BDNF positive cells in hippocamal CA1 region of AD rats were obviously reduced in the Moxibustion pretreatment and model groups,and those in the Moxibustion pretreatment group were significantly increased as compared with the model group.Conclusion: Moxibustion pretreatment at the Baihui and Shenshu points can improve learning and memory ability of AD rats,which might be related with increased NGF and BDNF expression in the hippocampal CA1 region.