Alternation of Resting-State Functional Connectivity Between Visual Cortex and Hypothalamus in Guinea Pigs With Experimental Glucocorticoid Enhanced Myopia After the Treatment of Electroacupuncture

作者：Tao Zhang, Qian Jiang, Furu Xu, Ruixue Zhang, Dezheng Liu, Dadong Guo, Jianfeng Wu, Ying Wen, Xingrong Wang, Wenjun Jiang, Hongsheng Bi · 发表于：Frontiers in Neuroinformatics · 年份：2021 · DOI：10.3389/fninf.2020.579769 · 被引用次数：11 · 研究领域：Glaucoma and retinal disorders、Ophthalmology and Visual Impairment Studies、Ocular Surface and Contact Lens

Excessive glucocorticoids (GC) may lead to the aggravation of several basic diseases including myopia, due to plasma hormone imbalances associated with the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPAA). Electroacupuncture (EA) is an effective therapeutic method to treat many diseases, although it remains unclear whether EA at acupoints on the foot or back would be effective in treating eye diseases. It was recently found that visual cortex activity for responses to visual stimuli with spatial frequency and resting-state functional connectivity (FC) between the supramarginal gyrus and rostrolateral prefrontal cortex was significantly reduced in patients with high myopia. The present study aims to investigate the role of the alternation of resting-state FC among the bilateral visual cortex and hypothalamus in exerting anti-myopia effects of EA in GC-enhanced lens-induced myopic (LIM) guinea pigs such that the mechanisms of EA to treat GC-enhanced myopia at Shenshu (BL23) acupoints can be probed. To confirm the effects of EA, ocular parameters including axial length and GC-associated physiological parameters such as animal appearance, behavior, bodyweight, and levels of four HPAA-associated plasma hormones [free triiodothyronine (FT3), free thyroxine (FT4), estradiol (E2), and testosterone (T)] were also collected. Increased resting-state FC between the left and right visual cortex was detected in GC-enhanced lens-induced myopic guinea pigs with EA at BL23 acupoints (LIM+GC+EA) gui...