Crosstalk between Acupuncture and NF-κB in Inflammatory Diseases

Table 1

Inflammatory diseases could be ameliorated by acupuncture through NF-κB pathways.

Disease	Models	Acupoints	Acupuncture administration	Main results	Reference
Asthma	OVA-induced mouse asthma model	GV14, BL12, BL13	MA, 30 mins each day, every other day for 4 weeks	Acupuncture attenuated inflammation and inhibited Th17 and the Treg activity	[22]
Allergic contact dermatitis	DNCB-induced mouse atopic dermatitis	LI11	MA, 8 days	Acupuncture treatment is effective in alleviating allergic contact dermatitis by reducing proinflammatory cytokines and proteins	[28]
	DNFB-induced mouse atopic dermatitis	ST36	EA, continuous waves, 2 Hz and 1 mA for 5 min, 2 Hz and 1.5 mA for 5 min, and 2 Hz and 2 mA for 20 min each day, 7 days	EA treatment inhibits NF-κB and AP-1 activation, as well as promotes the negative feedback regulation of IL-33 signaling via targeting miR-155 in mast cells	[20]
CAG	MNNG-induced CAG rat model	ST36, CV12	MA, 15 mins each day, 60 days	Acupuncture downregulate NF-κB p65, miR-155, and miR-21 and upregulate miR-146a expression in CAG rats	[19]
Cognitive impairment	Cerebral I/R-injured rat model	DU20, DU24	EA, disperse waves, 1 and 20 Hz, 30 mins each day, 10 days	Electroacupuncture ameliorates cognitive impairment through inhibition of NF-κB-mediated neuronal cell apoptosis	[29]
COPD	Smoking-induced COPD rat model	ST36, BL13	EA, alternating waves, 10/50 Hz and 2 mA for 30 mins each day, 7 days	EA treatment can reduce the lung inflammatory response and improve the lung function in COPD	[16]
Depression	Chronic unpredictable stress rat model of depression	GV20, PC6	MA, 10 mins each day, every other day for 4 weeks	Acupuncture markedly inhibited the activation of NF-κB in the brain regions	[30]
		GV20, GV29	MA, 20 mins each day, 28 days	The antidepressant effect of acupuncture is effective and has a multitarget characteristic, which may be related to amino acid metabolism and inflammatory pathways	[31]
HIBD	HIBD rat model	DU14, DU20	EA, 2–100 Hz and 3 mA for 30 mins each day, 14 days	EA against hypoxic-ischemic brain damage in rats via NF-κB/neuronal nitric oxide synthase	[32]
Neuropathic pain	PTX-induced neuropathic pain rat model	ST36	EA, continuous waves, 10 Hz and 1 mA for 10 mins each day, every other day for 15 days	EA treatment attenuates PTX-induced neuropathic pain via inhibiting spinal glia and the TLR4/NF-κB pathway	[33]
Neurodegeneration disease	Telomerase-deficient mice	ST36	MA or EA, 7 days	EA could specifically ameliorate the spatial learning and memory capability for telomerase-deficient mice through the activation of TrkB and NF-κB than MA	[34]
Obesity	Leptin deficient mice	ST36	EA, continuous waves, 2 Hz, 0.5 and 1 mA for 10 mins each day, three times weekly for one or two consecutive weeks	EA prevents weight gain through modulation of HIF-1α-dependent pathways and inflammatory response in obese adipose tissues	[17]
	High fat diet-induced obesity rat model	ST36, ST40, CV3, CV4	EA, continuous waves, 2 Hz and 1 mA for 10 mins each day, three times weekly for 8 weeks	EA prevents inflammation through activation of Sirt1	[24]
OA	Surgery-induced OA rabbit model	ST35, EX-LE5	EA, square waves, 2 Hz and 100 Hz alternating polarity for 30 mins each day, 8 weeks	EA treatment may delay cartilage degeneration by downregulating inflammatory factors through the NF-κB signaling pathway	[23]
Pruritus	Morphine-induced pruritus mouse model	LI11, SP10	EA, square waves, 2/15 Hz and 2 mA for 30 mins each day, 5 days	EA preconditioning improved pruritus through the TLR2/4-MyD88-NF-κB pathway	[25]
RA	Surgery-induced RA rabbit mode	ST35, EX-LE5	EA, continuous waves, 2 Hz and 2 mA for 30 mins each day, 4 weeks	EA can reduce the expression of TLR4, MYD88, and NF-κB, which play an important role in treatment of adjuvant arthritis	[35]
Stroke	MACo rat model	GV20, GV14	EA, amplitude-modulated waves, 5 Hz and 2.7–3.0 mA for 25 mins each day, 6 days	EA subacute phase cerebral I/R injuries by reducing S100B-mediated neurotoxicity	[18]
		LI11, ST36	EA, dilatational waves, 1–20 Hz and 2.7–3.0 mA for 30 mins each day, 3 days	EA improves motor impairment via inhibition of microglia-mediated neuroinflammation in the sensorimotor cortex after ischemic stroke	[26]
SAP	Sodium taurocholate-induced SAP rat model	ST25	MA or EA, 2–100 Hz and 2 mA, twice after SAP induction	Both MA and EA might have a therapeutic effect on rats with SAP through inhibition of NF-κB expression and a reduction in the release of proinflammatory cytokines	[27]
Traumatic injury	Surgical trauma rat model	ST36, EX-LE7	EA, 2 Hz and 60 Hz alternating polarity for 30 mins, once after surgery	EA inhibits apoptosis of splenic lymphocytes in traumatized rats through modulation of the TNF-α/NF-κB signaling pathway	[36]
	Feeney’s free fall epidural impact method, TBI rat model	GV20, GV25, GV16, GV15, LI4	MA, 15 mins, thrice	Acupuncture has a bidirectional regulatory effect on the TLR2/4-NF-κB signaling pathway-related genes TLR2, TLR4, and NF-κB in the TBI rat cortex, promoting their expression in the early stage and inhibiting it in the later stage	[37]
VD	CMi rat model	ST36	Verum acupuncture	Acupuncture could protect cognitive function against oxidative stress induced by CMi, which is partially associated with suppression of NF-κB-p53 activation	[38]

MA: manual acupuncture; EA: electroacupuncture; OVA: ovalbumin; DNCB: 1-chloro-2,4-dini-trobenzene; DNFB: 2,4-dinitrofluorobenzene; CAG: chronic atrophic gastritis; MNNG: N-methyl-N′-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine; I/R: ischemia/reperfusion; COPD: chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; HIBD: hypoxic-ischemic brain damage; PTX: paclitaxel; OA: osteoarthritis; RA: rheumatoid arthritis; MACo: middle cerebral artery occlusion; SAP: severe acute pancreatitis; TBI: traumatic brain injury; VD: vascular dementia; CMi: cerebral multi-infarction.