Investigation of acupuncture in improving sleep, cognitive and emotion based on attenuation of oxidative stress in prefrontal cortex in sleep-deprived rats

Objective To explore whether acupuncture can improve sleep disturbance, cognitive impairment and emotional disorders caused by sleep deprivation, and its association with the attenuation of oxidative stress injury in prefrontal cortex. Methods Fifty-two male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into a control group (n=10), a model group (n=14), a manual acupuncture (MA) group (n=14), and a sham-MA group (n=14). All the groups were established as sleep deprivation models via the modified multiple platform method, except for the control group. Rats in both the MA group and the sham-MA group received corresponding intervention, respectively. After modeling and intervention, the four groups received three behavioral tests, namely sleep monitoring, by comprehensive lab animal monitoring system (CLAMS), Morris water maze (MWM) test and open-field test (OFT), followed by oxygen free radical level test and Western blot (WB) detection for the expression levels of Bax and Bcl-2. Results The MA group derived more sleep time within 24 h than either the model group or the sham-MA group (both P<0.05). On MWM orientation navigation test day 1, there were no significant differences in escape latency among the control, MA and sham-MA groups (P>0.05), and the escape latency was significantly shorter in these three groups than that in the model group (all P<0.05). On test day 4, the escape latency was markedly shorter in the MA group than that in either the model group or the sham-MA group (both P<0.05); meanwhile, the MA group showed significantly better performance compared with these two groups in space probe test (both P<0.05). In OFT, compared with the control group, there was a significant decline in the horizontal movement score in the other three groups (all P<0.05), and the decrease was more significant in the model group and the sham-MA group than that in the MA group (both P<0.05). The superoxide dismutase (SOD) content was markedly higher and the malondialdehyde (MDA) content was markedly lower in the MA group than those in the model group and the sham-MA group (all P<0.05). Compared with the model group and the sham-MA group, the expression of Bax was significantly lower and the expression of Bcl-2 was significantly higher in the MA group (all P<0.05). Conclusion MA therapy can lengthen the sleep time in sleep-deprived rats and improve learning and memory impairments induced by sleep deprivation, and the underlying mechanism may be associated with the enhancement of antioxidant capacity in the prefrontal cortex and the inhibition of hippocampal neuronal apoptosis.