Poststroke cognitive impairment (PSCI) is a severe sequela of stroke. There are no effective therapeutic options for it. In this study, we evaluated whether electroacupuncture (EA) on the trigeminal nerve-innervated acupoints could alleviate PSCI and identified the mechanisms in an animal model. The male Sprague-Dawley rat middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) model was used in our study. EA was conducted on the two scalp acupoints, EX-HN3 (Yintang) and GV20 (Baihui), innervated by the trigeminal nerve, for 14 sessions, daily. Morris water maze and novel object recognition were used to evaluate the animal’s cognitive performance. Neuroprotection and synaptic plasticity biomarkers were analyzed in brain tissues. Ischemia-reperfusion (I/R) injury significantly impaired spatial and cognition memory, while EA obviously reversed cognitive deterioration to the control level in the two cognitive paradigms. Moreover, EA reversed the I/R injury-induced decrease of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, tyrosine kinase B, N-methyl-D-aspartic acid receptor 1, α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole propionic acid receptor, γ-aminobutyric acid type A receptors, Ca²⁺/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II, neuronal nuclei, and postsynaptic density protein 95 expression in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. These results suggest that EA on the trigeminal nerve-innervated acupoints is an effective therapy for PSCI, in association with mediating neuroprotection and synaptic plasticity in related brain regions in the MCAO rat model.

中文翻译：

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电针三叉神经支配穴位改善脑中动脉闭塞大鼠脑卒中后认知障碍：神经保护和突触可塑性的参与。

中风后认知障碍（PSCI）是中风的严重后遗症。没有有效的治疗选择。在这项研究中，我们评估了电针 (EA) 对三叉神经支配的穴位是否可以缓解 PSCI 并确定了动物模型中的机制。我们的研究中使用了雄性 Sprague-Dawley 大鼠大脑中动脉闭塞 (MCAO) 模型。电针在头皮两个穴位EX-HN3（印堂）和GV20（百会)，由三叉神经支配，每天 14 个疗程。Morris水迷宫和新物体识别被用来评估动物的认知表现。在脑组织中分析了神经保护和突触可塑性生物标志物。缺血再灌注 (I/R) 损伤显着损害空间和认知记忆，而 EA 在两种认知范式中明显逆转认知恶化至控制水平。此外，EA 逆转了 I/R 损伤诱导的脑源性神经营养因子、酪氨酸激酶 B、N-甲基-D-天冬氨酸受体 1、α-氨基-3-羟基-5-甲基-4-异恶唑丙酸酸受体，γ-氨基丁酸 A 型受体，Ca ²⁺/钙调蛋白依赖性蛋白激酶 II、神经元核和突触后密度蛋白 95 在前额叶皮层和海马中的表达。这些结果表明，电针对三叉神经支配的穴位是一种有效的治疗 PSCI，与介导 MCAO 大鼠模型相关脑区的神经保护和突触可塑性有关。