Effects of Musk Pharmacopuncture and Cheonung Pharmacopuncture in a Mouse Model of Parkinson’s Disease

Objectives : Pharmacopuncture is a Korean medicine therapy that combines herbal medicine and acupuncture.This study investigated the neuroprotective effects of musk pharmacopuncture and Cheonung pharmacopuncture in a 1-methyl-4phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP)-treated mouse model of Parkinson's disease.Methods : Ten-week-old male C57BL/6 mice were intraperitoneally administered 30 mg/kg of MPTP at 24-h intervals for 5 days.Normal saline, musk pharmacopuncture fluid, or Cheonung pharmacopuncture fluid was bilaterally injected into the peritoneal cavity or the GB34 acupoint once daily for 11 days, starting from the first MPTP injection.Motor function was assessed using the pole test and the rotarod test.Dopaminergic neuronal survival in the substantia nigra (SN) was evaluated using tyrosine hydroxylase immunohistochemistry, and astrocyte activation in the SN was assessed using glial fibrillary acidic protein immunofluorescence staining.Results : MPTP administration caused behavioral impairment and dopaminergic neuronal death in the SN.Cheonung pharmacopuncture at GB34 alleviated MPTP-induced motor dysfunction, while musk pharmacopuncture at GB34, Cheonung pharmacopuncture in the peritoneal cavity, and Cheonung pharmacopuncture at GB34 suppressed dopaminergic neuronal death in the SN.Pharmacopuncture injections prevented MPTP-induced astrocyte activation in the SN, with Cheonung pharmacopuncture at GB34 showing the most pronounced effects.Conclusions : Cheonung pharmacopuncture at GB34 alleviated the MPTP-induced motor dysfunction and dopaminergic neuronal death in the SN, likely due to the combined effects of Cheonung pharmacopuncture fluid and GB34 acupoint stimulation.