Objectives: To investigate the antidepressant effects of electroacupuncture (EA) on chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) in rats, as well as the effects of EA on hippocampal neurons, synaptic morphology, and 5-hydroxytryptamine (HT) receptor expression.
Methods: Forty adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into normal control, CUMS, EA, and paroxetine groups. CUMS modeling was performed for 21 days, followed by 14 days of intervention: rats in the EA group underwent stimulation of GV20 and GV29 acupuncture points for 30 minutes daily; rats in the paroxetine group were administered paroxetine daily. Behavioral tests, transmission electron microscopy, western blotting, and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction were used to evaluate the effects of the intervention.
Results: EA treatment reversed the behavioral changes observed in rats due to CUMS modeling; it also improved the pathological changes in organelles and synaptic structures of hippocampal neurons, and upregulated the protein and mRNA expression levels of 5-HT1A receptor. There were no significant differences in 5-HT1B receptor protein and mRNA expression levels among the groups.
Conclusions: EA treatment can alleviate depression-like symptoms in CUMS rats. The underlying mechanism may include promoting the expression of 5-HT1A receptor mRNA and protein, thereby improving synaptic plasticity in the hippocampus.
Keywords: 5-HT1A; Electroacupuncture; chronic unpredictable mild stress; depression; hippocampus; neuronal plasticity; paroxetine; serotonin; synaptic plasticity.