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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Immunol.
Sec. Multiple Sclerosis and Neuroimmunology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2024.1454102
This article is part of the Research Topic Community Series in Trends in Neuroimmunology: cross-talk between brain-resident and peripheral immune cells in both health and disease, volume II View all 3 articles

Stimulation of microneedles alleviates pathology of Parkinson's disease in mice by regulating the CD4+/CD8+ cells from the periphery to the brain

Provisionally accepted
Jin Hee Kim Jin Hee Kim 1Yujin Choi Yujin Choi 1Jin Se Kim Jin Se Kim 1Hanbyeol Lee Hanbyeol Lee 1In Gyoung Ju In Gyoung Ju 1Na Young Yoo Na Young Yoo 2Sookie La Sookie La 2Do Hyeon Jeong Do Hyeon Jeong 2Changsu Na Changsu Na 3Hi-Joon Park Hi-Joon Park 1Myung Sook Oh Myung Sook Oh 1*
  • 1 Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea
  • 2 Raphas Co. Ltd., Seoul, Republic of Korea
  • 3 Dongshin University, Naju, South Jeolla, Republic of Korea

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Introduction: Immune dysfunction is a major cause of neuroinflammation and accelerates the progression of Parkinson's disease (PD). Numerous studies have shown that stimulation of specific acupuncture points (acupoints) can ameliorate PD symptoms. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether attaching microneedles to acupoints would improve PD pathology by recovering immune dysfunction. Methods: The PD mouse model was induced by intrastriatal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA), and microneedle patches (MPs) or sham patches (SPs) were attached to GB20 and GB34, representative acupoints for treating PD for 14 days. Results: First, the behavioral experiment showed that motor disorders induced by 6-OHDA were significantly improved by MP. Simultaneously, 6-OHDA-induced dopaminergic neuronal death and brain neuroinflammation decreased. Conversely, SP had no effect on behavioral disorders, neuronal death, or neuroinflammation. Measurement results from flow cytometry of immune cells in the brain and blood revealed a disruption in the CD4+/CD8+ ratio in the 6-OHDA group, which was significantly restored in the MP group. The brain mRNA expression of cytokines was significantly increased in the 6-OHDA group, which was significantly decreased by MP. Discussion: Overall, our results suggest that the attachment of MPs to GB20 and GB34 is a new method to effectively improve the pathology of PD by restoring peripheral and brain immune function.

    Keywords: Parkinson's disease, microneedle, Acupuncture point, peripheral immune, Neuroinflammation

    Received: 24 Jun 2024; Accepted: 28 Oct 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kim, Choi, Kim, Lee, Ju, Yoo, La, Jeong, Na, Park and Oh. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Myung Sook Oh, Kyung Hee University, Seoul, Republic of Korea

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.