Home › Research › Biomarkers
Electroacupuncture ameliorates beta-amyloid pathology and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer disease via a novel mechanism involving activation of TFEB (transcription factor EB)
Zheng X, Lin W, Jiang Y, Lu K, Wei W, Huo Q, Cui S, Yang X et al.. Autophagy, 2021-02-23
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Alzheimer disease (AD) is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disorder leading to dementia in the elderly. Unfortunately, no cure for AD is available to date. Increasing evidence has proved the roles of misfolded protein aggregation due to impairment of the macroautophagy/autophagy-lysosomal pathway (ALP) in the pathogenesis of AD, and thus making TFEB (transcription factor EB), which orchestrates ALP, as a promising target for treating AD. As a complementary therapy, acupuncture or electroacupuncture (EA) has been commonly used for treating human diseases. Although the beneficial effects of acupuncture for AD have been primarily studied both pre-clinically and clinically, the real efficacy of acupuncture on AD remains inconclusive and the underlying mechanisms are largely unexplored. In this study, we demonstrated the cognitive-enhancing effect of three-needle EA (TNEA) in an animal model of AD with beta-amyloid (Aβ) pathology (5xFAD). TNEA reduced APP (amyloid beta (A4) precursor protein), C-terminal fragments (CTFs) of APP and Aβ load, and inhibited glial cell activation in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of 5xFAD. Mechanistically, TNEA activated TFEB via inhibiting the AKT-MAPK1-MTORC1 pathway, thus promoting ALP in the brains. Therefore, TNEA represents a promising acupuncture therapy for AD, via a novel mechanism involving TFEB activation. Abbreviations Aβ: β-amyloid; AD: Alzheimer disease; AIF1/IBA1: allograft inflammatory factor 1; AKT1: thymoma viral proto-oncogene 1; ALP: autophagy-lysosomal pathway; APP: amyloid beta (A4) precursor protein; BACE1: beta-site APP cleaving enzyme 1; CQ: chloroquine; CTFs: C-terminal fragments; CTSD: cathepsin D; EA: electroacupuncture; FC: fear conditioning; GFAP: glial fibrillary acidic protein; HI: hippocampus; LAMP1: lysosomal-associated membrane protein 1; MAP1LC3B/LC3B: microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3 beta; MAPK1/ERK2: mitogen-activated protein kinase 1; MAPT: microtubule-associated protein tau; MTORC1: mechanistic target of rapamycin kinase complex 1; MWM: Morris water maze; NFT: neurofibrillary tangles; PFC: prefrontal cortex; PSEN1: presenilin 1; SQSTM1/p62: sequestosome 1; TFEB: transcription factor EB; TNEA: three-needle electroacupuncture.
Key findings
- In this study, we demonstrated the cognitive-enhancing effect of three-needle EA (TNEA) in an animal model of AD with beta-amyloid (Aβ) pathology (5xFAD).
Why it matters
In a mouse model of Alzheimer disease with amyloid pathology, three-needle electroacupuncture improved cognition, reduced amyloid load and activated TFEB. This is an animal study, and the authors describe the therapy as promising, not as a proven treatment for people.
New to this subject? Start with our plain-English guide: Blood tests & biomarkers →
Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 44/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Autophagy) |
| Journal's citation record | 2 / 4 | Autophagy: journal h-index 240 (OpenAlex, 2026-10-29) |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 3 / 5 | 2021 — within 6 year(s) of the newest study here |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | 5 / 7 | Cited 163 times (OpenAlex, 2026-10-10) |
| Citations per year | 4 / 5 | 23.3 citations a year over 7 year(s) since 2021 |
| Impact for its field and year | 4 / 6 | Cited 12.3× the average for papers of its field and year (OpenAlex FWCI) |
| Cited by studies here | 0 / 6 | No other study in this library cites it |
| Still being cited | 3 / 4 | Cited 99 times in 2024–2026 (2026 still in progress; OpenAlex) |
| Senior author's track record | 2 / 4 | Last-listed author Ju‐Xian Song: h-index 42 (OpenAlex, whole career) |
| Institution's track record | 0 / 3 | Hong Kong Baptist University: institution h-index 413 (OpenAlex) |
| Multi-centre collaboration | 1 / 3 | OpenAlex lists 3 institution(s) in 2 countries |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 33622188) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Total | 44 / 100 | — |
What each of these 20 components measures, and what this score is not →
Read the original
- DOI: 10.1080/15548627.2021.1886720
- PubMed: 33622188
- Original source →
- Free full text: PubMed Central →
Full text: free to read — PubMed Central lists this copy as free to read: the link above (checked 10 Oct 2026).
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
Built from the record alzhub holds for this paper, not looked up. Volume, issue and page numbers are not held in the record. The record's author list ends in “et al.”, so not every author is named. Check the citation against the original before you use it.
APA 7th
Zheng, X., Lin, W., Jiang, Y., Lu, K., Wei, W., Huo, Q., et al. (2021). Electroacupuncture ameliorates beta-amyloid pathology and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer disease via a novel mechanism involving activation of TFEB (transcription factor EB). Autophagy. https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2021.1886720
Vancouver
Zheng X, Lin W, Jiang Y, Lu K, Wei W, Huo Q, et al. Electroacupuncture ameliorates beta-amyloid pathology and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer disease via a novel mechanism involving activation of TFEB (transcription factor EB). Autophagy. 2021. doi:10.1080/15548627.2021.1886720. PMID: 33622188.
BibTeX
@article{zheng2021-33622188,
author = {Zheng, X. and Lin, W. and Jiang, Y. and Lu, K. and Wei, W. and Huo, Q. and Cui, S. and Yang, X. and others},
title = {{Electroacupuncture ameliorates beta-amyloid pathology and cognitive impairment in Alzheimer disease via a novel mechanism involving activation of TFEB (transcription factor EB)}},
journal = {Autophagy},
year = {2021},
doi = {10.1080/15548627.2021.1886720},
pmid = {33622188},
url = {https://doi.org/10.1080/15548627.2021.1886720}
}
Studies this one cites
Referenced by this study and also in the alzhub library, so you can read them here.
Related studies in Biomarkers
Also tagged “amyloid-beta”
1,339 studies in the library carry the topic tag “amyloid-beta”; these are this study's neighbours in a fixed, alphabetical-by-hash tour of them, not the closest in content. All 1,339 tagged studies.