Mahmoodzadeh Yavar, Mahmoudi Javad, Gorgani-Firuzjaee Sattar, Mohtavinejad Naser, Namvaran Ali
Department of Medical Laboratory Sciences, Faculty of Paramedicine, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Neurosciences Research Center (NSRC), Tabriz University of Medical Sciences, Tabriz, Iran.
Basic Clin Neurosci. 2021 Jul-Aug;12(4):499-510. doi: 10.32598/bcn.2021.2026.1. Epub 2021 Jul 1.
Depression and anxiety are the most common psychiatric disorders. These conditions widely occur in industrial societies and severely affect individuals' lives. N-Acetylcysteine (NAC) is a mucolytic compound with antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects. This study aimed to investigate the potential therapeutic effects of NAC on chronic noise-induced depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in mice.
Fifty male BALB/c mice were randomly divided into 5 groups, as follows: control, noise90 dB, noise110 dB, noise 90+NAC, and noise 110+NAC groups. Animals in the noise groups were exposed to 90 dB 2 h/day and 110 dB 2 h/day for 30 days. The NAC groups received NAC (325 mg/kg P.O.) 20 min after being exposed to noise. To evaluate depressive- and anxiety-like behaviors, the examined mice were subjected to the Open Field Test (OFT), Sucrose Preference Test (SPT), Tail Suspension Test (TST), and Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) tasks. At the end of the behavioral tests, the study animals were sacrificed. Accordingly, the levels of Malondialdehyde (MDA), Total Antioxidant Capacity (TAC), Superoxide Dismutase (SOD), and Glutathione Peroxidase (GPx) were determined in the Hippocampus (HIP) and the Prefrontal Cortex (PFC).
The obtained results suggested that noise exposure would induce anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors, being reversed by NAC administration. Moreover, chronic administration of NAC significantly increased antioxidant enzyme activities and reduced lipid peroxidation (MDA levels) in the PFC and HIP of noise-exposed mice.
Our findings revealed that administrating NAC would reduce the adverse effects of noise on the brain and would exert anti-depressant and anxiolytic effects.
抑郁症和焦虑症是最常见的精神疾病。这些病症在工业社会中广泛存在，严重影响个人生活。N-乙酰半胱氨酸（NAC）是一种具有抗氧化和抗炎作用的黏液溶解化合物。本研究旨在探讨NAC对小鼠慢性噪声诱导的抑郁和焦虑样行为的潜在治疗作用。
将50只雄性BALB/c小鼠随机分为5组，如下：对照组、90 dB噪声组、110 dB噪声组、90 dB噪声+NAC组和110 dB噪声+NAC组。噪声组的动物每天暴露于90 dB噪声2小时和110 dB噪声2小时，持续30天。NAC组在暴露于噪声20分钟后接受NAC（325 mg/kg口服）。为了评估抑郁和焦虑样行为，对受试小鼠进行旷场试验（OFT）、蔗糖偏好试验（SPT）、悬尾试验（TST）和高架十字迷宫（EPM）任务。在行为测试结束时，处死研究动物。据此，测定海马体（HIP）和前额叶皮质（PFC）中丙二醛（MDA）、总抗氧化能力（TAC）、超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶（GPx）的水平。
所得结果表明，噪声暴露会诱导焦虑和抑郁样行为，而NAC给药可逆转这些行为。此外，长期给予NAC可显著提高噪声暴露小鼠PFC和HIP中的抗氧化酶活性，并降低脂质过氧化（MDA水平）。
我们的研究结果表明，给予NAC可减少噪声对大脑的不良影响，并具有抗抑郁和抗焦虑作用。
