Eiectroacupuncture Prevents Cognitive Deficits Caused by Topiramate （TPM） in Rats

Objective Recent studies have demonstrated that acupuncture is feasible to treat cognitive impairments. The objective of this study was to present behavioral evidence that electro-acupuncture （EA） could improve the learning and memory of TPM administrated rats. Methods The pattern of TPM-induced cognitive deficits in rats was made by administration of TPM intragastrically for 3 weeks. Of them the rats which showed damage in learning and memory （n=45） were randomly allocated to 3 groups： Impaired group （n=15）, EA group （n=15） and placebo-EA group （n=15）. Moreover, normal group （n=15） was set as control groups. EA stimulation was provided at acupoints located in either the midline of the back or of the head： Gv-20 （Baihui）, Gv-14 （Dazhui）. Morris water maze test was employed to assess spatial discriminative ability per group respectively and to analyze the curative effects of EA. Results Compared to the normal group, obvious cognitive deficits were found in the impaired and placebo-EA groups, and the statistic analysis showed that there were significant differences between normal and impaired groups in ANOVA. In the EA group, shortened mean escape latency was detected compared with the impaired effect on cognitive group during the same trial days; search strategy changed from random pattern adopted by impaired and placebo-EA rats to tendency or linear pattern popular in the normal group. Conclusion The present results suggested that EA exerted a protective impairment caused by TPM in rats, and EA has a specificity of cure. EA as a potential clinic method in treating TPM-induced cognitive impairment should be developed and investigated in the future.

Eiectroacupuncture Prevents Cognitive Deficits Caused by Topiramate （TPM） in Rats

electro-acupuncture Topiramate morris water maze learning and memory