Electroacupuncture relieves depression-like symptoms in rats exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress by activating ERK signaling pathway.
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 ERK and ribosomal s6 kinase (RSK) levels under stress. Both the behavioral and biochemical responses to EA were attenuated with administration of ERK inhibitor, suggesting that EA improves depression-like symptoms in stressed rats, in part, by activation of ERK signaling.
Department of Scientific Research Management, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China. Electronic address: lwddoctor@hotmail.com.
Weidong
W
Li
Xi'an XD Group Hospital, Xi'an 710077, China.
Yan
Y
Zhu
Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, New Jersey Medical School, Newark, NJ 07103, USA.
Shakir M
SM
Saud
Oncology Department, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China.
Qiujun
Q
Guo
Department of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Medical College of the Xiamen University, Xiamen 361102, China.
Shengyan
S
Xi
Department of Acupuncture, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100053, China.
Baohui
B
Jia
Editorial department, Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing 100700, China.
Shuang
S
Jiao
School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tui Na, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
Xiuyan
X
Yang
School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tui Na, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China.
Jun
J
Lu
Department of Pharmaceutics, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32610, USA.
Sihong
S
Song
School of Acupuncture-Moxibustion and Tui Na, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine, Beijing 100029, China. Electronic address: tuyab@263.net.
Ya
Y
Tu
D000818:Animals; D017304:Annexin A5 / Q000378:metabolism; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D003863:Depression / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D015671:Electroacupuncture; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000378:metabolism; D020935:MAP Kinase Signaling System / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000502:physiology*; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D017304:Annexin A5
Apoptosis; Chronic unpredictable mild stress; Depression; ERK; Electroacupuncture