Journal
NEUROSCIENCE LETTERS
Volume 642, Issue -, Pages 43-50Publisher
ELSEVIER IRELAND LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.neulet.2017.01.060
Keywords
Electroacupuncture; Chronic unpredictable mild stress; Depression; ERIK; Apoptosis
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Funding
- National Natural Science Foundation of China [90709034]
- China Postdoctoral Science Foundation [2012T50199]
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Electroacupuncture (EA) has been shown to alleviate the symptoms associated with major depressive disorder; however, the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. While the mainstay treatment for depression are pharmacological agents that modulate serotonergic and/or noradrenergic activity of the brain, recent data suggest that, neurotrophins may play a larger role in the pathogenesis of depression and may offer better therapeutic potential in alleviating symptoms associated with depression. One downstream target of neurotrophins is the extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/Mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) cascade, a major mediator of cellular stress often associated with clinical depression. In this study, we assessed whether the efficacy of EA is due to regulation of these novel pathways using an animal model of depression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). We found that EA stimulation at specific locations, Baihui (GV20), and Yintang (GV29) ameliorated the behavioral responses of CUMS, which included reduced locomotion, decreased sucrose intake and weight loss. Furthermore, EA increased the activation of ERIC and ribosomal s6 kinase (RSK) levels under stress. Both the behavioral and biochemical responses to EA were attenuated with administration of ERIC inhibitor, suggesting that EA improves depression-like symptoms in stressed rats, in part, by activation of ERIC signaling. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
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