Electroacupuncture restored hormone surge signalling in aging female rats by activating key hypothalamic cells and reshaping neurotransmitter-related gene activity.
Middle-aged female rats without ovaries were hormonally primed and treated with electroacupuncture at two traditional acupuncture points. Researchers measured luteinizing hormone release, assessed activation of kisspeptin-producing cells in a hypothalamic region controlling reproductive hormone surges, and analysed neurotransmitter metabolites and gene expression in this region using mass spectrometry and ribonucleic acid sequencing.
Electroacupuncture increased activation of kisspeptin-producing cells and improved both overall and peak luteinizing hormone release. It also reduced acetylcholine chloride concentrations and altered genes involved in neurotransmitter transport, nerve-cell signalling, glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid pathways, and reproductive hormone regulation, suggesting that it counteracts age-related hypothalamic signalling defects.
