Research Paper Volume 15, Issue 20 pp 11227—11243
Electroacupuncture pretreatment protects against anesthesia/surgery-induced cognitive decline by activating CREB via the ERK/MAPK pathway in the hippocampal CA1 region in aged rats
Figure 1. Experimental flow chart of the study (drawn by Figdraw, ID: WYUTPfff42). (A) Rats were treated with EA for 5 days, and then subjected to anesthesia and exploratory laparotomy 24 h after the final EA treatment. On the 3rd day after fracture surgery, mobility of aged rats was assessed with the open-field test (OFT) and cognitive function was evaluated with the novel object recognition test (NORT). On days 3–7 after surgery, cognitive function was assessed with the MWM test. (B) Twenty-one days before surgery, rats received bilateral stereotaxic injections of AAV-shCREB into the CA1 region. Rats were subjected to anesthesia and exploratory laparotomy 24 h after the final EA treatment. On the 3rd day after fracture surgery, mobility was evaluated with the OFT and cognitive function was assessed with the NORT. On days 3–7 after surgery, cognitive function was assessed with the MWM test.