| OBJECTIVEMajor depressive disorder(MDD)is a serious mental and neurological disorder that endangers the physical and mental health of all mankind.It is the common goal of world medicine to study the pathophysiological mechanism of MDD and to seek for optimal treatment strategy.In order to understand the mechanism of glial cell pathology and inflammation of MDD,and to provide experimental evidence for clinical acupuncture treatment of MDD.We observed the antidepressant mechanism of acupuncture,based on the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein(GFAP)in astrocytes of hippocampus and prefrontal cortex,and the content of serum interleukin 10(IL-10)in rats exposed to chronic restraint stress(CRS)compared with solitary raising.METHODSThirty-two male Sprague-Dawley(SD)rats were randomly divided into four groups:control,model,model + acupuncture(MA),and model + fluoxetine(MF)group,8 rats in each group.Except the rats in control group,all rats were exposed to CRS combined with solitary raising for 28 days.Rats in the MA group were acupunctured at "Baihui"(GV 20),"Yintang"(GV 29),and bilateral "Sanyinjiao"(SP 6)for 20 minutes,at one hour before the CRS procedures,once per day for 28 days.Rats in the MF group were administered with fluoxetine(0.18 mg/ml)by gavage(1 ml/100 g)at one hour before the CRS procedures,once per day for 28 days.Sucrose preference test and open-field test(crossing and rearing numbers)were carried out to evaluate the behavioral changes.Western blot(WB)was performed to detect the expression of GFAP in astrocytes of hippocampus and prefrontal cortex,and the expression of serum IL-10 was detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).RESULTS1.Behavioral changesAfter model building,compared with control group,sucrose consumption,crossing and rearing numbers in model group were all significantly decreased(P<0.01),it indicated that the animal model of depression was set up successfully.Compared with model group,sucrose consumption and crossing numbers in MA and MF group were all increased(P<0.05),rearing numbers all had no significant difference(P>0.05).There were no significant difference in sucrose consumption,crossing and rearing numbers between MA and MF groups(P>0.05).2.GFAP in hippocampus The expression of GFAP in hippocampus of model group was significantly decreased compared with that in normal group(P<0.01),the expression of GFAP in hippocampus of MA and MF group were significantly increased compared with that in model group(P<0.01).3.GFAP in prefrontal cortexThe expression of GFAP in prefrontal cortex of model group was significantly increased compared with that in normal group(P<0.01),the expression of GFAP in prefrontal cortex of MA and MF group were significantly decreased compared with that in model group(P<0.01).4.Serum IL-10The content of serum IL-10,model group was significantly lower than that of control group(P<0.01),MA and MF group were significantly higher than that of model group(P<0.01),MA group was significantly higher than that of MF group(P<0.01).CONCLUSIONS1.CRS compared with solitary raising had successfully induced rats model of depression in this experiment.2.Both acupuncture and fluoxetine could significantly improve the sucrose consumption and crossing numbers in the open field experiment of CRS model rats.Both acupuncture and fluoxetine could improve the depressive-behavior of CRS model rats,and their improvement effect was equal.3.Acupuncture could significantly up-regulate the expression of GFAP of AST in hippocampus of CRS model rats and improved the function of AST in hippocampus.At the same time,acupuncture could significantly down-regulate the expression of GFAP of AST in prefrontal cortex and regulate the over-activation of AST in prefrontal cortex of CRS model rats.4.Acupuncture could significantly up-regulate.the content of serum anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in CRS depression model rats,and its regulatory effect is more obvious than fluoxetine.5.Our results indicated that acupuncture may exert antidepressant effect by modulating the expression of GFAP in astrocytes of hippocampus and prefrontal cortex,and regulating the expression of serum anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 in rats subjected to CRS. |
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