Molecular-level effects of acupuncture on depression: a genome-wide transcriptome analysis of pituitary gland in rats exposed to chronic restraint stress.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the antidepressant mechanism of acupuncture at the molecular level in the pituitary gland of rats exposed to chronic restraint stress (CRS).

METHODS

Forty-eight rats were randomly divided into a control group (C), model group (M), fluoxetine group (F), and acupuncture group (A). CRS was induced in the model group by restraining rats for 28 days. Groups F and A were given fluoxetine administration and acupuncture intervention, respectively, 1 h before the CRS procedures were implemented. On the 29th day, rat pituitary glands were harvested for RNA extraction and RNA-sequencing analysis.

RESULTS

Differentially expressed gene analysis identified 148, 87, and 179 response genes differentially expressed in group C vs group M, group F vs group M, and group A vs group M, respectively. Using Gene Ontology term enrichment analysis and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes pathway enrichment analysis, we identified the up-regulation of gene sets involved in extracellular space, receptor binding, and monoamine neurotransmitter metabolism, and the down-regulation of gene sets involved in immune response and inflammatory response as the prevailing transcriptomic signatures in the pituitary gland of rats treated with CRS, fluoxetine, or acupuncture.

CONCLUSION

Our findings suggest that acupuncture has a multitarget antidepressant effect at the molecular and behavioral levels.