PHYSIOLSCI : Vol. 58 (2008) , No. 1 31-38

Acupuncture Inhibits Kainic Acid–Induced Hippocampal Cell Death in Mice

Seung-Tae Kim¹⁾, Songhee Jeon⁴⁾, Hae Jeong Park²⁾, Mee-Sook Hong²⁾, Wu Byung Jeong⁵⁾, Jang-Hyun Kim⁵⁾, Yeonjung Kim³⁾, Hye-Jung Lee¹⁾, Hi-Joon Park¹⁾ and Joo-Ho Chung²⁾

1) Acupuncture and Meridian Science Research Center, Kyung Hee University
2) Kohwang Medical Research Institute, College of Medicine, Kyung Hee University
3) College of Nursing Science, Kyung Hee University
4) Dongguk University Research Institute of Biotechnology, Medical Science Research Center
5) Department of Pediatrics, College of Oriental Medicine, Dongguk University

(Received November 6, 2007)
(Accepted January 5, 2008)

Abstract: We examined whether acupuncture can reduce both the incidence of seizures and hippocampal cell death using a mouse model of kainic acid (KA)–induced epilepsy. ICR mice were given acupuncture once a day at acupoint HT8 (sobu) bilaterally during 2 days before KA injection. After an intracerebroventricular injection of 0.1 μg of KA, acupuncture treatment was subsequently administered once more (total 3 times), and the degree of seizure was observed for 20 min. Three hours after injection, the survival of neuronal cells and the expressions of c-Fos, c-Jun, and glutamate decarboxylase (GAD)-67 in the CA1 and CA3 were determined using immunohistochemistry and Western blotting techniques. Acupuncture reduced the severity of the KA-induced epileptic seizure and the rate of neural cell death, and it also decreased the expressions of c-Fos and c-Jun induced by KA in the hippocampus. Furthermore, acupuncture increased GAD-67 expressions in the same areas. These results demonstrated that it could inhibit the KA-induced epileptic seizure and hippocampal cell death by increasing GAD-67 expressions.

Key words: epilepsy, seizure, kainic acid, acupuncture, glutamate decarboxylase (GAD)