ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Transcutaneous electrical cranial-auricular acupoint stimulation (TECAS) is a novel non-invasive therapy for major depressive disorder (MDD) that stimulates acupoints innervated by the trigeminal and auricular vagus nerves. However, there are few neuroimaging studies involving the TECAS for the treatment of MDD. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the treatment response and neurological effects of TECAS using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rs-fMRI). METHOD: A total of 34 patients with mild-to-moderate MDD and 34 demographically matched healthy controls (HCs) were recruited. After an eight-week treatment the primary outcome was clinical response, defined as a baseline-to-endpoint ≥ 50 % reduction in the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAMD-17). The low-frequency fluctuations (ALFF) method were used to investigate the brain abnormalities of MDD patients and HCs, and altered brain networks were analyzed between pre- and post-treatment using seed-based functional connectivity (FC) analysis. RESULTS: We found no significant differences in terms of gender, age, and years of education between the two groups. After treatment, the response rate was 58.82 %. Compared to HCs, MDD patients showed lower ALFF values in the left insula(t = -4.298,P < 0.005), the insula-based FC revealed in the right middle frontal gyrus (MFG)/ right superior frontal gyrus, orbital part (ORBsupmed) (t = -5.29,P < 0.005) and the right anterior cingulate gyrus (ACC)were decreased (t = -6.08,P < 0.005). Furthermore, Compared to pre-treatment, abnormal FC values in the ACC /orbital superior frontal gyrus (SFG) (t = 3.42,P < 0.005) and left superior frontal gyrus (SFG)/ supplement motor area (SMA) were enhanced (t = 3.34,P < 0.005). CONCLUSION: TECAS exhibits antidepressant efficacy, particularly influencing the insula-based functional connections within the Default Mode Network (DMN) related to emotion processing in individuals with MDD.
Subject(s)
Depressive Disorder, Major , Humans , Depressive Disorder, Major/diagnostic imaging , Depressive Disorder, Major/drug therapy , Acupuncture Points , Default Mode Network , Brain/diagnostic imaging , Antidepressive AgentsABSTRACT
There is no fast-acting treatment strate-gies against Alzheimer's disease(AD),in particular dementia-related wandering.N,N-dimethyltryptamine(DMT)is a natural psychedelic that may have rapid-onset nootropic effects.In this study,5×FAD transgenic mice which recapitulated amyloid neuropathological features of AD received one single injection of 6 or 12 mg·kg-1 DMT and tested at 0.5,1,and 2 h thereafter in Y-maze for spatial memory.5×FAD transgenic mice exhibited pro-nounced decreases in time spent,number entered,and distance travelled in the novel arm of Y-maze.DMT at 12 mg·kg-1 partially or completely reversed the three behavioral indices at multiple time points,up to 2 h post injection.The rapid-onset behavioral improvement was consistent with pharmacokinetic analysis of DMT,showing approximately 30 min to reach the maximum concentra-tion in the brain tissue.The transgenic mice also displayed dramatically impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation(LTP),an electrophysiological feature of memory forma-tion and consolidation.DMT potently enhanced LTP and restored intracellular calcium activity,expression and phosphorylation of calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase Ⅱ(CaMK Ⅱ)and AMPA-type glutamate receptor 1(GluR1),the two key calcium-activated mediators involved in LTP induction.Adenosine triphosphate(ATP)is purinergic signalling molecules that are involved in LTP induction and maintenance.DMT rapidly increased mito-chondrial ATP dynamics in in vivo and in vitro models.These results suggest that DMT rapidly improve spatial memory and hippocampal LTP by restoring the CaMK Ⅱ-GluR1 signaling pathway and mitochondrial ATP produc-tion.It may be served as a fast-acting nootropic agent for the treatment of AD in particular wandering.
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OBJECTIVE To clarify whether the thera-peutic effect of escitalopram on depression patients is cor-related with traditional Chinese medicine syndrome types,and to provide a basis for more accurate drug applica-tion.METHODS A total of 235 depression patients were recruited and classified according to traditional Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation into 5 types:liver and qi stagnation(45),liver stagnation and fire transformation(43),liver qi stagnation and spleen deficiency(79),heart and spleen deficiency(20),and liver and kidney deficiency(38).All patients were treated with escitalopram(10 mg·d-1)for eight weeks.The Montgomery Depression Rating Scale(MADRS)and the 17 Hamilton Depression Rating Scale(HAMD-17)were used to score before treatment and 2,4,and 8 weeks after treatment,respectively.RESULTS Compared with before treatment,the MADRS and HAMD-17 scores and remission rates of each syn-drome type significantly improved with increasing medica-tion duration.The MADRS score relief rate of liver and kidney deficiency type was the most significant(69.3%),significantly higher than the other four syndrome types(47.5%-52.6%,P<0.05);The remission rate of HAMD-17 score was significantly higher than that of heart and spleen deficiency(50.7%vs.28.5%,P<0.05).The remis-sion rate of HAMD-17 score in liver and qi stagnation type(52.2%)was significantly higher than that in liver stagnation and spleen deficiency type(37.0%,P<0.01)and heart spleen deficiency type(28.5%,P<0.05).CON-CLUSION Escitalopram may have a more significant therapeutic effect on patients with liver and kidney defi-ciency and liver stagnation depression.This study pro-vides a new approach for the more effective and accu-rate application of traditional Chinese medicine syndrome differentiation in the selection of clinical antidepressants.
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Combining the immunogold-silver staining (IGSS) method with the image quantitative analytical study, changes in somatostatin(SOM)-like, neurons of the hippocampal formation were investigated in young (2 monthes), adult (10 monthes) and old (24 monthes) rats. The results were as follows:1. The number of the SOM-like neurons decreased gradually from the young to the old. Moreover, there was a significant difference among the three age groups (p
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Aging changes of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) -immuno reactive neurons in the locus coeruleus were examined in young (3 month-old). adult(12 month-old) and aged(20 month-old) Wistar male rats, using the IGSS method and image quantitative analysis. The results obtained are as follows: ① The number of TH-immunoreactive neurons docreased markedly (P
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The segmental distribution of sensory and motor neurons in Neiguan (内关P6) acupoint areas was studied respectively in 8 rabbits with a horseradish peroxidase (HRP) method. The labeled neurons were found in C5-T1 segments of the spinal ganglia and in C7-T1 segments of the spinal cords (injected sides). Most labeled neurons were found concentrated in C8 and T1 of the spinal ganglia, and principally located in the circumferental areas of the spinal ganglia (47.27%). In spinal cord, the labeled neurons were located in the lateral areas of the ventral horns and the juncture of it and the lateral horns (Ⅷ-Ⅸlayers). In addition, the relation of the relative specifity of acupoints to the distributional segments of the neurons and its concentration was discussed.
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Aging changes in acetylcholinesterase positive (AChE-P) neurons of the globus pallidus were investigated histochemically and morphometrically in young (3 months old) and old (24 months old) Spragur-Dawley male rats. The number of the positive neurons in the old group is decreased by 11.8% in comparison with the young group. The total process length of the AChE-P neurons in the young rat is approximately 1.4 times as that in the old rat. The length of about 8.6% of the positive neurons in the old group, however, exceeds the average length of AChE-P cellls in the young group (232.1 ?m). In the old rat, the gray value of AChE-P neurons of the globus pallidus is notably higher than that in the young rat, but the value of nearly 6.8% of the positive cells in 24-month-old rat is inferior to the average value in 3-month-old rat (117.8). The transverse dimensions of AChE-P cell bodies in the old group are increased by 9.2% as compared to those in the young group. Morphological observations show that most of AChE-P neurons in the old rat globus pallidus represent a typical degenerative alterations, while a substantial number of the positive neurons in the old animal are characterized by enlarged bodies, strong histochemical reaction as well as dense processes and their branches. The above findings indicate that, in the old rat, a decline of AChE histochemical reactivity and the morphological degeneraton of AChE-P neurons with the advanced age do not occur synchronously in all the AChE-P neurons of the globus pallidus. Therefore, it is suggested that there probably exist a compensative mechanism in senescence of the globus pallidus.
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Changes in SOM-like neurons of the hippocampal formation were investigated inWistar male rats(young-2 months old;adult-10 months old;aged-24 months old)by using the combination of the IGSS method and image quantitative analysis.The following results were obtained:1.Number of SOM-like neurons decreased markedly(P