Possible Involvement of Tissue Plasminogen Activator/Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Pathway in Anti-Depressant Effects of Electroacupuncture in Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress-Induced Depression in Rats
Abstract
Using a rat model of chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), to investigate the effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on the tissue plasminogen activator (tPA)/brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) pathway. Sixty male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into four groups: normal, model, fluoxetine (fluox), or EA. Experimental groups were subjected to 28 d of CUMS modeling. One hour after CUMS, the fluox and EA groups were treated with fluox and a 20 min EA intervention, respectively. Depressive-like behaviors were assessed by open field and sucrose preference tests. After the rats were sacrificed, brains were dissected and processed using hematoxylin and eosin (HE) staining to observe changes in the morphology and quantity of neurons in the hippocampal cornu ammonis 3 area. Western blot and real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) demonstrated the effects of EA on the tPA/BDNF pathway-related molecules in the hippocampi and raphe nuclei. Compared to the model group, the number of horizontal and vertical movements and the percentage of sucrose consumption in the EA groups were significantly increased (P < 0.01). Compared to the model group, HE staining showed that the hippocampal neurons in the EA and fluox groups were ar...Continue Reading
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Biosynthesis and post-translational processing of the precursor to brain-derived neurotrophic factor
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