Electroacupuncture Improves Gastrointestinal Motility in Rats with Functional Dyspepsia via the GDNF/GFRα1/PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway

Abstract

Objective: Abnormal gastrointestinal motility plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of functional dyspepsia (FD). Although electroacupuncture (EA) has demonstrated efficacy in FD treatment, its precise mechanism remains unclear. This study aimed to elucidate the specific mechanism through which EA improves gastrointestinal motility in FD.

Methods: Physiological indices, including body weight, food intake, gastrointestinal motility, and gastrointestinal morphology, were utilized to assess the FD model in rats. EA interventions were applied at meridian points, as well as non-meridian points and non-acupoints, in FD model rats. The effects of EA at zusanli (ST36) and taichong (LR3) on gastrointestinal motility in FD model rats were elucidated using gastrointestinal motility test indices. Techniques such as Western blotting, quantitative real-time PCR, and immunofluorescence were employed to determine the specific mechanisms by which EA improved gastrointestinal motility in FD model rats.

Results: Multifactorial stress intervention could be used to effectively establish an FD rat model. EA at ST36 and LR3 significantly improved gastrointestinal motility. Furthermore, EA at ST36 and LR3 upregulated the protein expression of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), GDNF family receptor alpha 1 (GFRα1), phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K), and protein kinase B (Akt), along with their mRNA expression levels and the number of enteric glial cells (EGCs).

Conclusions: EA was capable of increasing the number of EGCs by activating the GDNF/GFRα1/PI3K/Akt signaling pathway, thereby improving gastrointestinal motility in FD.

Keywords: Electroacupuncture; Enteric glial cell; Enteric nervous system; Functional dyspepsia; Gastrointestinal motility.