Asalgoo Sara, Tat Mahdi, Sahraei Hedayat, Pirzad Jahromi Gila
Behavioral Sciences Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Applied Virology Research Center, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Front Neurosci. 2017 Dec 1;11:668. doi: 10.3389/fnins.2017.00668. eCollection 2017.
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs following life-threatening events. The activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which serves as the first line of defense against stress, is dysfunctional in this disorder. The current study aimed to investigate the role of Crocin in normalizing HPA function in an animal model of PTSD induced by electric foot shock. Rats were treated with Crocin 5 min prior to stress induction. The stimulus was re-introduced after 21 days, and we measured individual behaviors such as sniffing, rearing, grooming, and freezing. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were performed to measure plasma levels of Corticosterone. On day 28, after rats were weighed and sacrificed, the adrenal and thymus glands were removed and subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction to quantify the gene expression of corticotrophin-releasing hormone (), glucocorticoid receptor (), and arginine vasopressin (). Our results demonstrate that rats re-exposed to a stressor developed characteristic symptoms of PTSD, but these were attenuated by Crocin. Treated rats showed significant changes in expression in the hypothalamus, expression in the pituitary, plasma Corticosterone levels, and freezing behavior. Together, these findings suggest that Crocin can regulate HPA axis activity in PTSD. It may serve an appropriate treatment for subjects who experience a traumatic event.
创伤后应激障碍（PTSD）发生在危及生命的事件之后。下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴作为抵御压力的第一道防线，其活动在这种疾病中功能失调。当前的研究旨在调查藏红花素在由电足电击诱导的创伤后应激障碍动物模型中使HPA功能正常化的作用。在应激诱导前5分钟用藏红花素处理大鼠。21天后再次引入刺激，我们测量了诸如嗅探、直立、梳理毛发和僵住等个体行为。进行酶联免疫吸附测定以测量血浆皮质酮水平。在第28天，在对大鼠称重并处死后，取出肾上腺和胸腺并进行实时聚合酶链反应以量化促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素（）、糖皮质激素受体（）和精氨酸加压素（）的基因表达。我们的结果表明，再次暴露于应激源的大鼠出现了创伤后应激障碍的特征性症状，但这些症状被藏红花素减轻。经治疗的大鼠在下丘脑的表达、垂体的表达、血浆皮质酮水平和僵住行为方面表现出显著变化。总之，这些发现表明藏红花素可以调节创伤后应激障碍中的HPA轴活动。它可能对经历创伤事件的受试者是一种合适的治疗方法。
