A literature review study found that acupuncture
stimulation significantly enhanced neurogenesis in the brain of experimental
ischemic stroke model, according to a report published in journal of Scientific
Reports.
Neurogenesis naturally occurs only in very a few small
regions of the adult brain. However, neurogenesis is considered too weak to
produce any significant compensation in response to brain injury. Promoting
endogenous neurogenesis such as neural stem/progenitor cells appears to offer a
promising therapeutic strategy for treating stroke.
Recent studies showed that acupuncture treatment played a
neuroprotective role in treating patients with stroke. Other studies reported
acupuncture enhanced neurogenesis in the brain of experimental ischemic stroke.
A group of scientists in China undertook a preclinical
systematic review and meta-analysis to assess the current evidence for effect
of acupuncture on neurogenesis in treating ischaemic stroke. Thirty-four
studies represented a total of 1617 experimental subjects were included in the
review study.
The data showed that acupuncture improved neurological
deficits and reduced brain edema in experimental ischemia, and that the
mechanisms mostly involved in enhancing endogenous neurogenesis including
proliferation, migration and differentiation of neural stem/progenitor cells. Acupuncture
was found to be effective in promoting neurogenesis, particularly from day 7 to
day 14 after ischemia; neurocyte proliferation peaked at day 7 while
differentiation peaked at day 14. These results suggested an optimum time
window in stroke for acupuncture therapy.
Authors suggested that the study may help the planning
and improve the likelihood of success of future clinical trials, provide
empirical evidence to improve the rigor of the conducting and reporting of preclinical
research.
Reference
Lu L et al.,
Acupuncture for neurogenesis in experimental ischemic stroke: a systematic
review and meta-analysis. Sci Rep. 2016 Jan 20;6:19521. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/26786869
