Investigation of the impact of preconditioning with lipopolysaccharide on inflammation-induced gene expression in the brain and depression-like behavior in male mice

Pro-inflammatory cytokines in stress-induced depression: Novel insights into mechanisms and promising therapeutic strategies

Stress-mediated depression is one of the common psychiatric disorders with a high prevalence and suicide rate, there is a lack of effective treatment. Accordingly, effective treatments with few adverse effects are urgently needed. Pro-inflammatory cytokines (PICs) may play a key role in stress-mediated depression. Thereupon, both preclinical and clinical studies have found higher levels of IL-1β, TNF-α and IL-6 in peripheral blood and brain tissue of patients with depression. Recent studies have found PICs cause depression by affecting neuroinflammation, monoamine neurotransmitters, hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis and neuroplasticity. Moreover, they play an important role in the symptom, development and progression of depression, maybe a potential diagnostic and therapeutic marker of depression. In addition, well-established antidepressant therapies have some relief on high levels of PICs. Importantly, anti-inflammatory drugs relieve depressive symptoms by reducing levels of PICs. Collectively, reducing PICs may represent a promising therapeutic strategy for depression.

Evaluation of electroacupuncture as a non-pharmacological therapy for astrocytic structural aberrations and behavioral deficits in a post-ischemic depression model in mice

Background

Ascending clinical evidence supports that electroacupuncture (EA) is effective in treating post-ischemic depression (PID), but little is known about how it works at the cellular level. Astrocytes are exquisitely sensitive to their extracellular environment, and under stressful conditions, they may experience aberrant structural remodeling that can potentially cause neuroplastic disturbances and contribute to subsequent changes in mood or behavior.

Objectives

This study aimed to investigate the effect of EA on behavioral deficits associated with PID in mice and verify the hypothesis that astrocytic morphology may be involved in this impact.

Methods

We established a PID animal model induced by transient bilateral common carotid artery occlusion (BCCAO, 20 min) and chronic restraint stress (CRS, 21 days). EA treatment (GV20 + ST36) was performed for 3 weeks, from Monday to Friday each week. Depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors and sociability were evaluated using SPT, FST, EPM, and SIT. Immunohistochemistry combined with Sholl and cell morphological analysis was utilized to assess the process morphology of GFAP+ astrocytes in mood-related regions. The potential relationship between morphological changes in astrocytes and behavioral output was detected by correlation analysis.

Results

Behavioral assays demonstrated that EA treatment induced an overall reduction in behavioral deficits, as measured by the behavioral Z-score. Sholl and morphological analyses revealed that EA prevented the decline in cell complexity of astrocytes in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the CA1 region of the hippocampus, where astrocytes displayed evident deramification and atrophy of the branches. Eventually, the correlation analysis showed there was a relationship between behavioral emotionality and morphological changes.

Conclusion

Our findings imply that EA prevents both behavioral deficits and structural abnormalities in astrocytes in the PID model. The strong correlation between behavioral Z-scores and the observed morphological changes confirms the notion that the weakening of astrocytic processes may play a crucial role in depressive symptoms, and astrocytes could be a potential target of EA in the treatment of PID.

Effect of Early Rehabilitation Nursing on Motor Function and Living Ability of Patients with Traumatic Brain Injury Based on Orem’s Self-Care Theory

Objective

To explore the effect of early rehabilitation nursing on motor function and living ability of patients with traumatic brain injury (TBI) based on Orem's self-care theory.

Methods

A total of 60 patients with TBI treated in our hospital from February 2019 to June 2021 were enrolled. The patients were randomly divided into a control group and a research group. The control group adopted the early rehabilitation nursing model, while the research group adopted the early rehabilitation nursing model based on Orem's self-nursing theory. Nursing satisfaction, Fugl-Meyer score, NIH-SS score, Barthel index, quality of life score, and compliance were in the comparison of the two groups.

Results

The nursing satisfaction of the research group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05). Compared with the control group, the Fugl-Meyer scores of the research group were higher at 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months after nursing (P < 0.05). After nursing, the NIH-SS score of the two groups decreased. In the comparison of the two groups, the NIH-SS score of the research group at 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months after nursing was lower (P < 0.05). After nursing, the Barthel index of the two groups increased. In the comparison of the two groups, the Barthel index of the research group was higher compared to the control group at 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months after nursing (P < 0.05). The scores of physiological function, psychological function, social function, and health self-cognition in the research group were lower (P < 0.05). The compliance rate of the research group was higher than that of the control group (P < 0.05).

Conclusion

Patients with TBI receive early rehabilitation nursing based on Orem's self-care theory, which can effectively improve patient satisfaction and compliance and achieve the purpose of improving motor function and living ability. This nursing program is worth popularizing in the clinic.

Stimulation of astrocytic sigma-1 receptor is sufficient to ameliorate inflammation- induced depression

Astrocytes play important roles in the development of depression. As a promising target for antidepressant development, sigma-1 receptor (Sig-1R) is reported to promote activation of astrocyte in chronic stress-induced depression in our previous study. However, astrocytes are hyper-activated in inflammation-induced depression, raising concerns of whether stimulation of astrocytic Sig-1R would exert antidepressant-like effect in inflammation-induced depression. Here we reported that specific stimulation of astrocytic Sig-1R using adeno-associated virus (AAV) significantly attenuated lipopolysaccharide (LPS)- induced depressive-like behavior in the forced swim test (FST), tail suspension test (TST), sucrose preference test, and improved the memory function in novel object recognition test. Besides, specific stimulation of astrocytic Sig-1R decreased the activation of astrocyte and microglia, as well as increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in LPS-induced depression. In primary cultured astrocytes, overexpression of Sig-1R also reduced the expression of IL-1β, TNF-α, iNOS during inflammation-treated astrocyte. Taken together, the results suggest that specific stimulation of astrocytic Sig-1R ameliorates inflammation-induced depressive-like behavior, providing the evidence that astrocytic Sig-1R could represent a reliable therapeutic target for depression.