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. 2025 Mar;62(3):3697-3711.
doi: 10.1007/s12035-024-04500-1. Epub 2024 Sep 25.

Electroacupuncture Promotes the Generation of Intestinal Treg Cells After Ischemic Stroke by Foxp3 Acetylation Regulation

Yonglin Chen  1   2 , Ling Ouyang  1 , Xinyi Yang  1 , Bufan Wu  1 , Lingling Meng  1 , Jialin Gu  3 , Yaling Wang  1 , Juan Li  1 , Jingjing Zhang  4 , Xinyue Jing  1 , Shengfeng Lu  1 , Lanying Liu  5   6 , Shuping Fu  7
Affiliations

Electroacupuncture Promotes the Generation of Intestinal Treg Cells After Ischemic Stroke by Foxp3 Acetylation Regulation

Yonglin Chen et al. Mol Neurobiol. 2025 Mar.

Abstract

Electroacupuncture (EA) has been shown to ameliorate brain injury and protect against intestinal injury after ischemic stroke. These protective effects are closely associated with the enhancement of regulatory T (Treg) cell numbers and function in the intestine, as well as the inhibition of intestinal γδ T cell production and their migration to the brain. This study aimed to elucidate the potential mechanism by which EA regulates intestinal Treg cell differentiation after stroke. Sprague-Dawley rats were divided into three groups: the sham group, the middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) group, and the MCAO plus EA (MEA) group. The MCAO model was generated by occluding the middle cerebral artery. EA was applied to Baihui (GV20) acupoint once daily. Samples were collected 3 days after reperfusion. Our results showed that EA reduced the inflammatory response in the brain and intestine after ischemic stroke. EA treatment increased the percentage of Treg cells in the small intestine of rats. EA increased the levels of SCFAs, while also inhibiting histone deacetylase activity (HDAC). Additionally, acetylated Foxp3 protein in the small intestine was increased after EA treatment. These results suggest that EA at GV20 alleviates brain and intestinal inflammatory injury in stroke rats, potentially through the enhancement of SCFA-mediated Foxp3 acetylation in Treg cells.

Keywords: Electroacupuncture; Foxp3; Ischemic Stroke; Short-chain Fatty Acids; Treg.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Ethics Approval: This study was performed in line with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals published by the National Institutes of Health. Approval was granted by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of the Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine (202103A003). Consent to Participate: Not applicable. Consent for Publication: Not applicable. Competing Interests: The authors declare no competing interests.

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