Influences of different acupuncture methods on hypothalamic CRH mRNA expression and serum ACTH and CORT in rats with chronic stress depression

Objective To compare and observe the differences between the influences of acupuncture and electroacupuncture on the expression of hypothalamic corticotrophin-releasing hormone(CRH) mRNA and content of serum adrenocorticotropic hormone(ACTH) and corticosterone(CORT) in rat model of chronic stress depression,and investigate the mechanism of acupuncture and electroacupuncture in intervene and treatment of depression.Methods All SD rats were randomly divided into blank group,model group,acupuncture group and electroacupuncture group.The expression of hypothalamic CRH mRNA was detected by using real-time fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR),and content of serum ACTH and CORT were detected by applying enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA).Results Compared with blank group,the expression of CRH mRNA and content of serum ACTH and CORT increased significantly in model group(P0.01,P0.01).Compared with model group,the expression of CRH mRNA decreased significantly in acupuncture group and electroacupuncture group(P0.05、P0.01).The content of serum CORT decreased but had no statistical difference(P0.05),and ACTH expression decreased significantly(P0.05、P0.01) in acupuncture group and electroacupuncture group.The differences of above indexes were not significant between acupuncture group and electroacupuncture group(P0.05).Conclusion The rat model of chronic stress depression had a hyperactivity of HPA axis.Acupuncture and electroacupuncture can down-regulate the function of HPA axis.It may be one of ways to treat depression with acupuncture and electroacupuncture that they have antagonism to the hyperactivity of HPA axis.