Antidepressant-like effects of acupuncture via modulation of corticosterone, sex hormones, and hippocampal BDNF expression in male rats

Dávila-Hernández, Amalia; González-González, Roberto; Guzmán-Velázquez, Sonia; Hernández, Olivia Tania Hernández; Zamudio, Sergio; Martı́nez-Mota, Lucı́a

doi:10.1016/j.brainresbull.2021.05.007

Cited by 14 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 70 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…A latest report indicated that the specificity of acupoints is that they could drive a specific autonomic pathway: the vagal-adrenal axis (Liu et al, 2021). And in a previous study, acupuncture increased dendritic plasticity (Davila-Hernandez et al, 2018) and modulate BDNF expression (Davila-Hernandez et al, 2021) in hippocampus of rats with chronic social isolation. Besides, acupuncture altered hepatic lipid metabolism and inflammatory makers in the chronic restraint stress (CRS) induced depression model (Jung et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Acupuncture Relieves Stress-Induced Depressive Behavior by Reducing Oxidative Stress and Neuroapoptosis in Rats

Cheng

Huang

et al. 2022

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Oxidative stress is closely related to the occurrence of depression. Acupuncture has been proved to be an effective method for treating depression. In order to explore the mechanism of the antidepressant effect of acupuncture, this study performed acupuncture prevention on chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) depression model rats, and observed the effect of acupuncture on hippocampal oxidative stress and Nrf2 signaling pathway. Male SD rats were randomly divided into control group, CUMS group, acupuncture group, and fluoxetine group (n = 10/group). Fluoxetine, a common antidepressant, was used as a positive control drug in this study. In the fluoxetine group, rats were given fluoxetine (2.1 mg/kg) intragastrically once a day for 28 days. The acupoints of Shangxing (GV23) and Fengfu (GV16) were applied in acupuncture group, once every other day for 14 times in total. Behavioral tests and biological detections were used to evaluate the effects of the interventions and the changes of factors related to oxidative stress, Nrf2 pathway, and neuronal apoptosis. The results showed that both acupuncture and fluoxetine could increase sugar preference rate in SPT and decrease immobility time in FST in depression model rats. It also significantly decreased oxidative stress products such as ROS and H2O2, and elevated the protein and mRNA expressions of Nrf2 and HO-1. From Nissl’s staining, there were more abundant nerve cells in two intervention groups compared with CUMS group. Plus, acupuncture down-regulated the expression levels of Bax and caspase-3 and up-regulated the expression of Bcl-2. Our findings indicate that acupuncture improved depression-like behaviors of CUMS rats. And CUMS-induced depression-like behaviors in rats were related to oxidative stress and neuronal apoptosis in hippocampus. Acupuncture showed antidepressant effects in reducing oxidative stress products via regulating the Nrf2/HO-1 signaling pathway so that prevented neuronal apoptosis.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Acupuncture Relieves Stress-Induced Depressive Behavior by Reducing Oxidative Stress and Neuroapoptosis in Rats

Cheng

Huang

et al. 2022

Front. Behav. Neurosci.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, soy intake was found to impact the secretion or metabolism of sex steroids and further alter the circulating levels of testosterone and estradiol [ 34 ]. Then the the medicine used for 1–2 months prior to recruitment may affect the sex hormone and depression risk biomarkers [ 35 ]. Therefore, we were also not able to adjust the relationship for drug treatment of antidepressants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Altered circulating GDF-15 level predicts sex hormone imbalance in males with major depressive disorder

Liu

Mei²,

Sun

et al. 2023

BMC Psychiatry

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Background It has been hypothesized that higher growth differentiation factor 15 (GDF15) level and lower testosterone/ estradiol (T/E) ratio are associated with major depressive disorder (MDD), yet the underlying effect of serum GDF15 on hinting the T/E ratio imbalance is not fully understood. We observed the correlation between serum T/E ratio and circulating GDF15 in male depressed cohort. Methods The sample consisted of participants (aged 18 ~ 65 years) from the Renmin Hospital of Wuhan University with MDD (n = 412) defined according to a Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-V (SCID), and male healthy controls (n = 137). Serum levels of testosterone, estradiol, and depression risk biomarkers (thyroid hormone, lipids, hs-CRP, Tenascin-C [TNC], GDF15, KLF4, Gas6, and sgp130) were measured. The associations among log-transformed T/E ratio and these biomarkers were analyzed using univariate correlation analysis, category analyses, and linear regression adjusting for standard risk factors. Results Of the sample, 36.89% had lower T/E ratio (< 10:1) and 10.20% had higher T/E ratio (> 20:1). After multivariable adjustment, T/E ratio was negatively associated with GDF15 (-0.095 [95% CI -0.170 ~ -0.023] standard deviation [SD] change per SD increase in lg[T/E], P = 0.015) and inversely related to TNC (-0.085 [95% CI -0.167 ~ 0.003] standard deviation [SD] change per SD increase in lg[T/E], P = 0.048). Serum T/E ratio was negatively associated with GDF15 level in both FT3, TSH and HDL strata, whereas this association was not observed in TNC. In T/E ratio strata analyses, there is a significant and negative correlation among T/E ratio and GDF15 in depressive patients with sex hormone imbalance, yet this relationship was not investigated in patients with sex hormone balance. Conclusion In our community-based observation, circulating GDF-15 level was greatly and inversely associated with serum T/E ratio, indicating that higher GDF-15 alerts sex hormone imbalance in patients with MDD.

show abstract

“…[ 12 ] AEM normalized immobility behavior, the levels of testosterone, estradiol, and corticosterone hormones, and the content of brain-derived neurotrophic factor. [ 28 ] Also, Garcia-Vivas et al [ 9 ] conducted a randomized clinical trial in Mexico and revealed that AEM had favorable effects on the reduction of risk of diabetes by reducing body weight, regulating serum insulin level, and enhancing insulin sensitivity, as well as changes in gene expression in adipose tissue showed alterations in genes involved in the regulation of homeostasis, lipid metabolism, olfactory signal transmission, and the γ-aminobutyric acid signaling pathway. [ 29 ] Furthermore, Indonesian scientists performed a study on the effect of AEM on essential hypertension.…”

Section: Indications and Contraindicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comprehensive practical review of acupoint embedding as a semi-permanent acupuncture: A mini review

Kazemi,

Adel-Mehraban,

Jamali Dastjerdi

et al. 2024

Medicine

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Since ancient times, acupuncture has been utilized in the treatment of lots of diseases, as a part of Traditional Chinese Medicine. Acupoint embedding (AEM) therapy, known as catgut embedding, is a development of acupuncture that consists of inserting catgut or surgical threads into specific acupoints to produce continuous acupoint stimulation based on the theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The remaining thread in the acupoint works as a semi-permanent acupuncture needle that results in decreasing the total time of the treatment which is required for continuous manual acupuncture sessions and increasing the treatment efficacy and patients’ satisfaction. In each session of AEM about twenty 1 to 2 cm-long threads—natural origin, synthetic polymer, or bioactive threads—will be inserted at the target acupoints and this process will be repeated every 3 to 4 weeks. Indications of AEM are somehow similar to manual acupuncture including obesity, pain, musculoskeletal inflammations, infertility, etc, and it cannot be performed on pregnant women and pediatrics. AEM demonstrates its therapeutic effects via modulating immune system function, alleviating body inflammatory conditions, affecting the neurohormonal system, and other mechanisms. Subcutaneous indurations, redness, bleeding, hematoma, and bruising are some adverse events reported following the AEM. In conclusion, the scientific literature suggests that AEM is a relatively safe and convenient therapy if performed by a professional skilled practitioner.

show abstract

Antidepressant-like effects of acupuncture via modulation of corticosterone, sex hormones, and hippocampal BDNF expression in male rats

Cited by 14 publications

References 70 publications

Acupuncture Relieves Stress-Induced Depressive Behavior by Reducing Oxidative Stress and Neuroapoptosis in Rats

Acupuncture Relieves Stress-Induced Depressive Behavior by Reducing Oxidative Stress and Neuroapoptosis in Rats

Altered circulating GDF-15 level predicts sex hormone imbalance in males with major depressive disorder

A comprehensive practical review of acupoint embedding as a semi-permanent acupuncture: A mini review

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About