Effect of electroacupuncture on inhibition of inflammatory response and oxidative stress through activating ApoE and Nrf2 in a mouse model of spinal cord injury

Electroacupuncture (EA) is a potential treatment for spinal cord injury (SCI) that may work by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress. This study investigates how EA might exert these effects through apolipoprotein E (ApoE) and nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor (Nrf2). The study used wild-type mice and ApoE knockout mice to examine the effects of EA, an ApoE mimetic peptide (COG112), and a combination of both on SCI recovery. The researchers assessed motor function, tissue damage, and levels of inflammatory and oxidative stress markers. The findings suggest that EA's neuroprotective effects after SCI are partly dependent on ApoE. EA appears to work by modulating inflammation and oxidative stress through the ApoE/Nrf2 pathway, suggesting a potential therapeutic target for SCI.

• 1
  Electroacupuncture (EA) combined with exogenous ApoE significantly enhanced hindlimb locomotor function, reduced neural tissue loss and inflammatory response, and suppressed myelin degeneration and axonal demyelination in WT and ApoE–/– mice model of SCI.
• 2
  EA induced the activation of ApoE and Nrf2, and the WT EA+COG112 group expressed the highest levels of ApoE and Nrf2. The ApoE–/– mice showed the opposite. These results directly implicate ApoE and Nrf2 as a downstream mediator of EA after SCI.
• 3
  EA-mediated improvement in inflammatory response after SCI depends on ApoE, involving down-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β) and up-regulation of anti-inflammatory cytokines (IL-10 and TGF-β1).