Acupuncture inhibits overexpression of p53 mRNA and improves cognitive ability in SAMP8 mice

[Objective] To explore the mechanism of acupuncture in delaying the brain aging.[Methods] The SAMP8 mice(senescence accelerated mouse prone 8) and their normal control,SAMR1 mice(senescence accelerated mouse resistant 1) were assigned to the following four groups: SAMR1 control group(Rc),SAMP8 control group(Pc),SAMP8 acupuncture group(Pa) and SAMP8 non-acupoint group(Pn).Pa was treated with Yiqi Tiaoxue and Fuben Peiynan acupuncture once a day for 15 days.For the Pn mice,the nonacupoints point at hypochondrium on both sides of the body were stimulated.The two control groups were grasped in the same amount of time and with the same extent of strength as that in Pa and Pn.Spatial learning and memory of mice was assessed by Morris water maze.The expression of p53mRNA was determined by RT-PCR.[Results] The cognitive abilities of SAMP8 damaged apparently,which was showed by rigid thinking pattern and slow learning process in their Morris water maze tasks.The expression of p53mRNA in hippocampus of SAMP8 increased more obviously than that of SAMR1.After acupuncture treatment,the cognitive function of SAMP8 mice improved significantly and the expression of p53mRNA in hippocampus declined sharply,which even lower than that of the Rc group.[Conclusion] The brain aging of SAMP8 mice is correlated with the expression of p53mRNA.Acupuncture treatment can delay the aging process by decreasing p53 mRNA level,which can partly explain why and how acupuncture worked in improving age-related cognitive impairments.