title: Effect of Manual Acupuncture Stimulation at "Bai-Hui" (GV 20) or "Yintáng" (Ex-HN3) on Depressed Rats.
abstract: A previous study on rats showed that simultaneous acupuncture stimulation at the "Bai-Hui" (GV 20) and the "Yintáng" (Ex-HN3) acupoints alleviated the state of depression to an extent similar to that achieved by pharmacotherapy. This study investigated whether the alleviation of the depressed state required simultaneous acupuncture at these two acupuncture points. For the purposes of testing the effect of acupuncture on depressive symptoms, we treated a depression model rat, where depression had been induced by using a mild water-immersion stress technique, with either acupuncture stimulation at only one acupuncture point (GV 20 or Ex-HN3) or an antidepressant, and we measured the immobile time for evaluating the state of depression. Anxiety, as a symptom commonly associated with depression, was also evaluated by measuring the number of head dips. Neither the immobile time nor the number of head dips decreased upon acupuncture stimulation. From this study, single acupuncture stimulation at either "GV 20" or "Ex-HN3" alleviated neither the state of depression nor the anxiety. The water-immersion stress used to make the depression model rats was shown not to induce anxiety; however, the stress induced by immobilizing the rats for acupuncture stimulation did lead to anxiety.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzuka University of Medical Science, 1001-1 Kishioka, Suzuka, Mie 510-0293, Japan; Acupuncture and Moxibustion College, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, China.
authors.forename: Ken
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Takagi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzuka University of Medical Science, 1001-1 Kishioka, Suzuka, Mie 510-0293, Japan.
authors.forename: Nobuyuki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Tanahashi
authors.affiliation: Graduate School of Health Science, Suzuka University of Medical Science, 1001-1 Kishioka, Suzuka, Mie 510-293, Japan.
authors.forename: Nozomi
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Amagasu
authors.affiliation: Department of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, Suzuka University of Medical Science, 1001-1 Kishioka, Suzuka, Mie 510-0293, Japan.
authors.forename: Kaito
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mizuno
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzuka University of Medical Science, 1001-1 Kishioka, Suzuka, Mie 510-0293, Japan.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kawanokuchi
authors.affiliation: Acupuncture and Moxibustion College, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, China.
authors.forename: Guo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Yi
authors.affiliation: Institute of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Suzuka University of Medical Science, 1001-1 Kishioka, Suzuka, Mie 510-0293, Japan; Acupuncture and Moxibustion College, Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Tianjin 300193, China. Electronic address: ishida-t@suzuka-u.ac.jp.
authors.forename: Torao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ishida
mesh_terms: D015669:Acupuncture Points; D015670:Acupuncture Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D003863:Depression / Q000628:therapy*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D008297:Male; D011897:Random Allocation; D051381:Rats
keywords: Bai-Hui; Yintáng; acupuncture; anxiety; depression; immobilization stress; water-immersion stress