title: Antidepressant effects of abscisic acid mediated by the downregulation of corticotrophin-releasing hormone gene expression in rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH) is considered to be the central driving force of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, which plays a key role in the stress response and depression. Clinical reports have suggested that excess retinoic acid (RA) is associated with depression. Abscisic acid (ABA) and RA are direct derivatives of carotenoids and share a similar molecular structure. Here, we proposed that ABA also plays a role in the regulation of CRH activity sharing with the RA signaling pathway.
  
  
  METHODS
  [3H]-ABA radioimmunoassay demonstrated that the hypothalamus of rats shows the highest concentration of ABA compared with the cortex and the hippocampus under basal conditions.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Under acute stress, ABA concentrations increased in the serum, but decreased in the hypothalamus and were accompanied by increased corticosterone in the serum and c-fos expression in the hypothalamus. Moreover, chronic ABA administration increased sucrose intake and decreased the mRNA expression of CRH and retinoic acid receptor alpha (RARα) in the hypothalamus of rats. Furthermore, ABA improved the symptom of chronic unpredictable mild stress in model rats, as indicated by increased sucrose intake, increased swimming in the forced swim test, and reduced mRNA expression of CRH and RARα in the rat hypothalamus. In vitro, CRH expression decreased after ABA treatment across different neural cells. In BE(2)-C cells, ABA inhibited a series of retinoid receptor expression, including RARα, a receptor that could facilitate CRH expression directly.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results suggest that ABA may play a role in the pathogenesis of depression by downregulating CRH mRNA expression shared with the RA signaling pathway.
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, Schol of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Drs Qi, Zhang, Fang, Liu, Ge, Chen, and J-N Zhou); Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Dr N Zhou); Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Dr Xiang).
authors.forename: Cong-Cong
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Qi
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, Schol of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Drs Qi, Zhang, Fang, Liu, Ge, Chen, and J-N Zhou); Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Dr N Zhou); Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Dr Xiang).
authors.forename: Zhi
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, Schol of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Drs Qi, Zhang, Fang, Liu, Ge, Chen, and J-N Zhou); Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Dr N Zhou); Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Dr Xiang).
authors.forename: Hui
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, Schol of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Drs Qi, Zhang, Fang, Liu, Ge, Chen, and J-N Zhou); Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Dr N Zhou); Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Dr Xiang).
authors.forename: Ji
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Liu
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, Schol of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Drs Qi, Zhang, Fang, Liu, Ge, Chen, and J-N Zhou); Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Dr N Zhou); Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Dr Xiang).
authors.forename: Nan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, Schol of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Drs Qi, Zhang, Fang, Liu, Ge, Chen, and J-N Zhou); Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Dr N Zhou); Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Dr Xiang).
authors.forename: Jin-Fang
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Ge
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, Schol of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Drs Qi, Zhang, Fang, Liu, Ge, Chen, and J-N Zhou); Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Dr N Zhou); Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Dr Xiang).
authors.forename: Fang-Han
authors.initials: FH
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, Schol of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Drs Qi, Zhang, Fang, Liu, Ge, Chen, and J-N Zhou); Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Dr N Zhou); Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Dr Xiang).
authors.forename: Cheng-Bin
authors.initials: CB
authors.lastname: Xiang
authors.affiliation: CAS Key Laboratory of Brain Function and Diseases, Schol of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Drs Qi, Zhang, Fang, Liu, Ge, Chen, and J-N Zhou); Department of Neurosurgery, Huashan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China (Dr N Zhou); Plant Molecular Biology Laboratory, School of Life Science, University of Science and Technology of China, Anhui, China (Dr Xiang). jnzhou@ustc.edu.cn.
authors.forename: Jiang-Ning
authors.initials: JN
authors.lastname: Zhou
mesh_terms: D000040:Abscisic Acid / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000818:Animals; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000493:pharmacokinetics / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000097:blood; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D019422:Dietary Sucrose / Q000008:administration & dosage; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015536:Down-Regulation / Q000187:drug effects; D015870:Gene Expression / Q000187:drug effects; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000378:metabolism; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000378:metabolism; D011897:Random Allocation; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid / Q000378:metabolism; D000072482:Retinoic Acid Receptor alpha; D013315:Stress, Psychological
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C000607073:Rara protein, rat; D018168:Receptors, Retinoic Acid; D000072482:Retinoic Acid Receptor alpha; D000040:Abscisic Acid; D003346:Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone; D003345:Corticosterone
keywords: abscisic acid; corticotrophin-releasing hormone; depression; retinoic acid receptor alpha; stress response