Effect of Electro acupuncture on learning and memory ability as well as antioxidant capacity on rat models of Alzheimer's disease

Objective To observe the effect of electro acupuncture on the learning and memory ability, and free radical metabolism in brain tissue of rat models of amyloid beta protein 25~35 fragment(Aβ25~35) induced Alzheimer's diseases(AD). Methods Fourty-eight healthy female SD rats were randomly divided into AD model group, sham operation group, normal control group and acupuncture group, with 12 rats in each group. Aβ25~35 was applied to construct AD models, and Morris water maze was used to observe the learning and memory ability of rats. Superoxide dismutase(SOD), malondialdehyde(MDA), glutathione(GSH), glutathione peroxidase(GSH-PX) level and acetylcholine esterase(AchE), monoamine oxidase(MAO), nitric oxide(NO), catalase(CAT), lactate dehydrogenase(LDH) activity in brain tissue homogenate were also detected. Results Compared with the AD model group, electro acupuncture can shorten the escape latency of rats(P0.01), significantly increase the times of platform crossing(P0.01), prolong the residence time in the percentage of rats and increase the target quadrant platform quadrant stay away the total distance(P0.05). At the same time, electro acupuncture could significantly increase the content of SOD, CAT, GSH, GSH-Px(P0.01), decrease MDA, AchE, MAO, LDH, NO activity(P0.01). What's more, compared with the AD model group, the differences of above indexes in sham operation group and normal control group were significant except the average speed. Conclusion Electro acupuncture can improve the learning and memory ability of AD rats. Also, it can enhance the body's antioxidant capacity and has a positive effect on free radical in brain tissue metabolism.