Acute Effects of Different Electroacupuncture Point Combinations to Modulate the Gut-Brain Axis in the Minipig Model

Figures

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  Figure 1. Schematic representations of the experimental design with (a) localization of the acupoints and sham points for electroacupuncture (EA), and (b) time course of each treatment session of acute electroacupuncture, sham stimulation, or control. Each animal (N = 4) was subjected to five different sessions (EA1, EA2, EA3, sham, and control). All acupoints were localized according to “Traditional Chinese Veterinary Acupuncture and Moxibustion” [25]. We selected three acupoint combinations as described in a previous hypothesis paper [1]. The head-abdomen point combination associated Dafengmen (#70) with Sanwan (#35). The back point combination included the bilateral Pishu (#28) as well as the bilateral third pair of pig acupoint Liumai (#27). The leg point combination associated the pig bilateral Housanli (#63) with the bilateral Hangou (#79). The sham combination included four loci that do not correspond to pig acupoints (two bilateral sham points on the back and buttock). Red points indicate cathodic stimulation and black points anodic stimulation. Control sessions were performed without any stimulation. The biological sampling included blood and saliva sampling. An electrocardiogram…

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  Figure 2. Horizontal maps of brain blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses of minipigs to four types of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation compared to control (no stimulation): sham (two bilateral sham points on the back and buttock), head-abdomen (cephalic Dafengmen #70 associated with abdominal three-locus Sanwan #35), back (bilateral Pishu #28 and Liumai #27), and leg (bilateral Housanli #63 and Hangou #79). The significance threshold was set at p=0.05, k > 20. The coordinates in the dorsal-ventral position related to the posterior commissure (in mm) are indicated below each slice level. Positive t-values (hot colors) indicate higher activation in the four EA groups compared to the control, whereas negative t-values (cold colors) indicate lower activation in the four EA groups compared to the control.

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  Figure 3. Horizontal maps of brain blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) responses of minipigs to the three types of electroacupuncture (EA) stimulation compared to sham (two bilateral sham points on the back and buttock; i.e., points that are not acupoints): head-abdomen (cephalic Dafengmen #70 associated with abdominal three-locus Sanwan #35), back (bilateral Pishu #28 and Liumai #27), and leg (bilateral Housanli #63 and Hangou #79). The significance threshold was set at p=0.05, k > 20. The coordinates in the dorsal-ventral position related to the posterior commissure (in mm) are indicated below each slice level. Positive t-values (hot colors) indicate higher activation in the three EA groups compared to the sham, whereas negative t-values (cold colors) indicate lower activation in the three EA groups compared to the sham.