Taurine Alleviates Chronic Social Defeat Stress-Induced Depression by Protecting Cortical Neurons from Dendritic Spine Loss.

Abnormal amino acid metabolism in neural cells is involved in the occurrence and development of major depressive disorder. Taurine is an important amino acid required for brain development. Here, microdialysis combined with metabonomic analysis revealed that the level of taurine in the extracellular fluid of the cerebral medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) was significantly reduced in mice with chronic social defeat stress (CSDS)-induced depression. Therefore, taurine supplementation may be usable an intervention for depression. We found that taurine supplementation effectively rescued immobility time during a tail suspension assay and improved social avoidance behaviors in CSDS mice. Moreover, taurine treatment protected CSDS mice from impairments in dendritic complexity, spine density, and the proportions of different types of spines. The expression of N-methyl D-aspartate receptor subunit 2A, an important synaptic receptor, was largely restored in the mPFC of these mice after taurine supplementation. These results demonstrated that taurine exerted an antidepressive effect by protecting cortical neurons from dendritic spine loss and synaptic protein deficits.

Transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a randomized clinical trial.

Little is known about the effects of transcutaneous electrical acupoint stimulation (TEAS) for children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Here, we carried out a 4 week randomized clinical trial in which patients aged 6-12 years old with an ADHD diagnosis received TEAS or sham TEAS. The primary outcome measure was the investigator-rated Clinical Global Impression-Improvement (CGI-I) score at week 4. Secondary outcomes included changes from baseline to week 4 in the investigator-rated Clinical Global Impression-Severity of Illness (CGI-S) score, the Conners' Parent/Teacher Rating Scales-Revised: Short Form (CPRS-R: S/CTRS-R: S) score, go/no-go task performance, and functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS)-based oxygenated hemoglobin level within the prefrontal cortex. At week 4, the CGI-I score indicated improvement in 33.3% of the TEAS group compared with 7.7% of the sham group (P = 0.005). The TEAS group had a greater decrease in the mean CGI-S score (-0.87) than the sham TEAS group (-0.28) (P = 0.003). A greater enhancement in the mean cerebral oxygenated hemoglobin within the prefrontal cortex was found in the TEAS group (0.099 mM mm) compared with the sham TEAS group (0.005 mM mm) (P < 0.001). CPRS-R: S score, CTRS-R: S score, and go/no-go performance exhibited no significant improvement after TEAS treatment. The manipulation-associated adverse events were uncommon in both groups, and events were very mild. Our results show that noninvasive TEAS significantly improved general symptoms and increased prefrontal cortex blood flow within 4 weeks for children with ADHD. Further clinical trials are required to understand the long-term efficacy in a larger clinical sample. This trial was registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03917953).