| Abstract: | Objective: To investigate the influence of different electroacupuncture(EA) treatment on the expression of thyrotropin-releasing hormone(TRH) in the hypothalamus of rats with chronic unpredictable mild stress, and to elucidate the possible role of TRH in the development of experimental depression and the effect of different EA for them.Methods: Adult male SD rats were randomly divided into normal control group(n=12), model group(n=12), pulsed EA group(n=12), music EA group(n=12) and fluoxetine group(n=12).Depression model was established by raising alone andchronic unpredictable mild stress for 21 d.Open-field test was performed to test the behavior of the rats.The expression of hypothalamic TRH was detected by using immunohistochemistry, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and real-time PCR techniques respectively.Results: The cross and rear scores of the model group were significantly lower than those of the normal control group, while pulsed EA, music EA and fluoxetine could reverse it.The expression of hypothalamic TRH in the model group decreased significantly, and the three kinds of treatment could improve these pathological changes, but the effect of fluoxetine was better than the other two EA treatments.In addition, there were no statistical differences between the effects of pulsed EA and music EA treatments.Conclusion: The level of TRH in hypothalamus of depression rats was lower than normal level.EA treatments may have antagonism against depression by increasing the level of TRH in hypothalamus, and there is no difference between the effects of pulsed EA treatment and music EA treatment for depression. |
