UC Irvine

Acupuncture is an important practice used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), and it generates therapeutic effects through the insertion of thin needles through the skin at specific acupoint(s) in the body to stimulate sensory nerves. Many of the acupoints have multiple therapeutic indications. Using rodent models, we have found that manual acupuncture (MA) at the Neiguan (P6) acupoint overlying median nerve inhibits excitatory cardiovascular reflex responses through its influence on specific regions involving in the regulation of autonomic nervous system in the brain stem. However, in TCM, it is also the acupoint for treating nausea and headaches. It is largely unknown whether MA at this acupoint activates neurons in the brain regions beyond the brain stem. To further understand neural mechanisms underlying acupuncture effects, in this study, we map P6 specific neural activation by MA in the forebrain using a Fos‐CreER based mouse genetic strategy. Identification of c‐Fos expression is achieved using the Fos‐CreER mice crossed with the Cre reporter Ai9 mice to express the tdTomato fluorescent protein. This genetic method allows for enhanced sensitivity and efficiency compared to conventional immunohistochemical staining. Specifically, at 30 min following 4‐OHT (a metabolite of tamoxifen; i.p., 1 mg/per mouse) administration, MA or sham‐MA at P6 were conducted under anesthesia with ketamine: xylazine (75:10 μg/g, i.m.). MA was performed by gentle manual rotation of the acupuncture needle at a frequency of □2 Hz for 3 min every 10 min during a 30 min period. Identical procedures without the rotation of the needle at P6 were carried out in the mice treated with sham‐MA. With tissue collection after ten days, we observed that MA at P6 markedly increases c‐Fos/tdTomato+ neuronal labels in a number of the forebrain regions, compared to the sham‐MA group (n=5 in each group). These regions include accumbens nucleus, caudate putamen, bed nucleus of the stria terminalis, amygdaloid nucleus, ventral posterior division of the thalamic nucleus, paraventricular hypothalamic nucleus, arcuate hypothalamic nucleus, primary and secondary sensory cortex, ectorhinal cortex, dorsolateral entorhinal cortex, and claustrum. These data indicate that MA at P6 activates neurons in relatively broad brain networks beyond the brain stem, suggesting that acupuncture at this acupoint has the potential to influence physiological functions, associated with autonomic and non‐autonomic nervous systems through its effects on multiple brain regions. Support or Funding Information NIH NCCIH AT009347 and NIH MH113026 This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal .