Effect of Acupuncture Combined with Antidepressant on Behavioral Changes, and mRNA Expression of 5-Hydroxytryptamine Receptors in Nucleus Raphes Dorsalis of Sleep Deprivation Depression Rats / 广州中医药大学学报

ABSTRACT

Objective To investigate the effect of acupuncture combined with antidepressant on behavioral changes and 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A and 2A receptor ( 5-HT1AR and 5-HT2AR) mRNA expression in nucleus raphes dorsalis (NRD) of sleep deprivation depression (SDD) rats. Methods Eight normal Sprague Dawley (SD) rats were caged together without any stimulus or treatment, serving as the normal group. Thirty-two SD rats were given solitary raise for 21 days, together with chronic unpredictable mild stress ( CUMS) and rapid eye movement ( REM) sleep deprivation to establish the model. Twenty-eight rats completed the modeling successfully, and were divided into model group, acupuncture group, medicine group, and combination group, 7 rats in each group. Rats in the model group were given modeling treatment but without any intervention. Rats in the acupuncture group were given acupuncture on acupoint Yintang, Shenting and bilateral Taichong, acupuncture stimulation lasting 15 s every 10 min and acupuncture retention for 20 min in each day. Rats in the medicine group were given gastric gavage of Zoloft solution (0.83 mg·kg-1·d-1) and Alprazolam solution (0.067 mg· kg-1·d-1) , and rats in the combination group were given both acupuncture and medicine intervention. The intervention for the three intervention groups lasted for 7 days. Results Compared with the normal group, body weight, Open-field scores and sucrose preference of the model rats were significantly decreased on modeling day 7, 14, 21 (P<0.05). On modeling day 28, body weight and Open-field scores of each intervention group were significantly increased compared with those of the model group (P<0.05), and Open-field scores of combination group differed from those of acupuncture group and medicine group ( P<0.05). Only sucrose preference of combination group was improved significantly compared with the model group (P<0.05). Compared with the model group, NRD 5-HT1AR mRNA expression level was increased in the combination group (P<0.05), and NRD 5-HT2AR mRNA expression level was down-regulated in all of the three intervention groups ( P<0.05). Conclusion Acupuncture and antidepressant treatment covering 7 days can evoke rapid effect on SDD rats, which can improve the slow effect of antidepressant.