Research progress in the mechanism of acupuncture regulating microglia in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease

Front Neurosci. 2024 Jul 31:18:1435082. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2024.1435082. eCollection 2024.

Abstract

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most common neurodegenerative disease in the central nervous system, characterized by memory and cognitive dysfunction. Acupuncture is an effective means to alleviate the symptoms of AD. Recent studies have shown that microglia play an important role in the occurrence and development of AD. Acupuncture can regulate the activity of microglia, inhibit neuroinflammation, regulate phagocytosis, and clear Aβ Pathological products such as plaque can protect nerve cells and improve cognitive function in AD patients. This article summarizes the relationship between microglia and AD, as well as the research progress in the mechanism of acupuncture regulating microglia in the treatment of AD. The mechanism of acupuncture regulating microglia in the treatment of AD is mainly reviewed from two aspects: inhibiting neuroinflammatory activity and regulating phagocytic function.

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease; acupuncture; mechanism research; microglia; neuroinflammation.

Publication types

  • Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare that financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. Liaoning Provincial Natural Science Foundation (2021-MS-282); Liaoning Province Excellent Traditional Chinese Medicine Talents Project ([2021] No. 29); the “Xingliao Talent Plan” Medical Master Project in Liaoning Province (YXMJ-QNMZY-08); Dalian Association of Science and Technology Expert Workstation Project ([2020] No. 42).