Electroacupuncture at Sanyinjiao more effectively restored reproductive hormone balance and improved spatial learning in ageing female mice than stimulation at Guanyuan.
Nine-month-old female accelerated-ageing mice were assigned to an untreated disease-model group or to electroacupuncture treatment at either Guanyuan or Sanyinjiao, while age-matched resistant mice served as controls. Researchers measured hypothalamic, pituitary, and ovarian hormone concentrations using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays and assessed spatial learning and memory through a water-maze task.
Untreated accelerated-ageing mice showed disrupted reproductive hormone regulation, with lower estradiol and higher gonadotropin-releasing hormone, luteinizing hormone, and follicle-stimulating hormone levels than controls. Both electroacupuncture approaches improved this hormonal pattern, but Sanyinjiao produced stronger estradiol increases and gonadotropin-releasing hormone reductions. Only Sanyinjiao stimulation also improved maze-learning performance, suggesting that its cognitive benefits may be linked to restoration of reproductive hormone regulation.
