Researchers testing the potential positive effects of
"micro-injury" by brief insertion of a small needle into the
hippocampal region of mice modeled with Alzheimer's disease (AD) have found
that the procedure not only stimulated the hippocampus into regenerative
activity, but also reduced β-amyloid plaques, a hallmark of AD.
Their study will be published in a future issue of Cell
Transplantation and is currently freely available on-line as an unedited,
early epub.
Micro-needle insertion (acupuncture) has been a
mainstay of traditional Chinese medicine for centuries. In the last decade, deep brain
stimulation using chronically implanted electrodes into specific
brain areas has become common for treating movement disorders such as
Parkinson's disease and tremors and paved the way for other micro- needle
medical applications.
Because the early and primary damage by AD appears to
take place in the hippocampus, an important brain area for learning and memory,
the objective for this study was to use micro-needle stimulation in the
hippocampus to see if the procedure would both increase hippocampal regeneration
and help determine if the needle insertion had an effect on β-amyloid deposits
in mice modeled with AD.
"We found that the brief micro needle insertion
into the hippocampus of the test animals modeled with AD did prove effective in
decreasing amyloid burden," explained Dr. Shijie Song of the Department of
Neurology at the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL. "It also
improved test animal performance on memory tasks, which indicates possible
hippocampal regeneration."
Until recently, many diseases of the central nervous
system could not be treated by this method because of inaccessibility of the
brain to micro-needles, said the researchers.
"As the cellular and humoral mechanisms of
micro-lesioning are better understood, it will be possible to develop novel
surgical and pharmaceutical targets for intervention and treatment of
neuro-cognitive disorders," concluded the researchers.
"Because Alzheimer's disease is increasing in
prevalence, new intervention strategies are becoming invaluable," said Dr.
Shinn-Zong Lin, professor of Neurosurgery at China Medical University Hospital
in TaiChung, Taiwan and Co-Editor-in-Chief for Cell Transplantation.
"Since the host's microenvironment can be inhospitable to transplanted
cells and pharmacological interventions in diseased conditions, strategies to
increase the regenerative capacity of the patient's own body may be another
viable option. Future studies should strive to include a larger sample size in
order to validate this approach."
More information: , Transient Micro-needle Insertion into Hippocampus Triggers
Neurogenesis and Decreases Amyloid Burden in a Mouse Model of Alzheimer's
Disease, Cell Transplantation (2016). DOI: 10.3727/096368916X691114
http://medicalxpress.com/news/2016-04-micro-needle-insertion-hippocampus-brain-regeneration.html
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