Effects of electroacupuncture on the expression of caspase-12 in hippo-campus and serum of rats with chronic unpredictable mild stress
10.3969/j.issn.1006-2157.2018.02.010
- VernacularTitle:电针对慢性应激抑郁模型大鼠海马及血清caspase-12表达的影响
- Author:
Zhaoyang TIAN
1
;
Ya TU
;
Huili JIANG
;
Xuhui ZHANG
;
Jun LU
;
Qiuyun YU
;
Xingchen LIANG
;
Shujun SHAO
;
Dulian XIANG
;
Jihong WU
Author Information
1. 北京中医药大学针灸推拿学院 北京100029
- Keywords:
depression;
chronic stress;
acupuncture;
JNK signaling pathway;
caspase-12;
rats
- From:
Journal of Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
2018;41(2):154-159
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
Objective To observe the effects of electroacupuncture(EA)on the expression of central and peripheral cysteine aspartic acid protease-12 via JNK signal transduction pathway in rats with chronic stress depression and to explore anti-depression mechanism of electro-acupuncture.Methods SD rats were randomly divided into blank group,stress model group,acupuncture group,fluoxetine group,model+DMSO(dimethyl sulfoxide,soluble organic solvent)group, model+JNK pathway blocker SP600125 (hereinafter abbreviated as SP)group, acupuncture +SP group, and fluoxetine +SP group(n=9 in each group).The combination of chronic stress and solitary raising was used to establish chronic unpre-dictable mild stress model in seven groups except the control group.The investigated intervention was EA at"Neiguan(PC6)"and"Sanyinjiao(SP6)"points,20 min for each session,once a day,for 21 con-secutive days.The positive control group was treated with fluoxetine 5 mg/kg by oral gavage for 21 days. Open field test was used to observe the rats' behaviors.The expression of caspase-12 protein in hippo-campus and serum was measured by using ELISA.Results Before the experiment,there was no statistic difference in rat behaviors of all groups(P>0.05).At Day 21 of the experiment,the horizontal crossing lattice and frequency of vertical movements markedly decreased compared to the blank group(P <0.01).Compared with the model group,EA increased the horizontal crossing lattice(P<0.05).Com-pared with the blank group,the expression of caspase-12 protein in the model group increased significant-ly(P<0.01).Compared with the model group, the expression of caspase-12 protein in the model +DMSO group,fluoxetine group,fluoxetine+SP group,acupuncture group and SP group all decreased(P<0.05).Compared with the blank group,the expression of caspase-12 protein in the model group de-creased.Compared with the model group, the expression of caspase-12 protein in the model +DMSO group,model+SP group, fluoxetine group and acupuncture +SP group(P>0.05)decreased, while the expression of caspase-12 in fluoxetine+SP group and acupuncture group was higher than that in the control group,but all the differences were not statistically significant(P>0.05).Conclusion Acu-puncture treatment may reduce the expression of caspase-12 protein in the hippocampus of chronic stress rats by effectively inhibiting the JNK signal transduction pathway activity and reducing the apoptosis of hippocampal neuron,which contributes to its anti-depression mechanism.
