Potential mechanisms of acupuncture therapy to alleviate motor symptoms in Parkinson’s disease

Although the potential benefits of acupuncture on patients with Parkinson’s disease (PD) have gained increasing attention, there is surprisingly little research on the mechanisms of acupuncture on the treatment of PD, in particular motor symptom relieve. Recently a paper reviewed the current development in acupuncture research in the models of PD. It has been reported that acupuncture stimulation at the assigned acupoints protected dopaminergic neurones in the substantia nigra in the middle brain against toxic insults and restored dopamine expression in the striatum, a brain area playing a pivotal role in modulating movement. More studies revealed that the effects of acupuncture-induced neuroprotection are mediated by stimulating expression of neurotrophic factors in the substantia nigra and striatum. Acupuncture therapy slows cell death process by acting as antioxidant agent to protect dopamine neurones against oxidative stress-induced neurodegeneration. In addition, acupuncture stimulation inhibited expression of inflammation markers in the relevant brain regions and enhanced its protective effects.  Further, studies on neuronal activity of motor circuits in the brain reported that acupuncture rebalanced output of neuronal activity and improved behavioural functions in Parkinson’s models. The results of those studies suggest that early application of acupuncture treatment to PD patients may be helpful in slowing down cell death process in Parkinson’s disease.

Reference:

BY Zeng et al., (2013) Current development of acupuncture research in Parkinson's disease. In BY Zeng, K Zhao & FR Liang (Eds), Neurobiology of Acupuncture (Int Rev Neurobiol. Vol. 111: pp. 141-58). New York: Academic Press. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24215923