Effects of Acupuncture on Behaviors and Expression of 5-Hydroxytryptamine Receptor in Hippocampus in Sleep Deprivation Depression Rats

Objective To explore the molecular mechanism of acupuncture on sleep deprivation depression(SDD).Methods 36 Wistar rats with similar Open-Field score were divided into normal group,model group,and acupuncture group,12 rats in each group.Except nor-mal group,the other groups received different stress for 18 d,and then were deprived rapid eye sleep for 72 h.Acupuncture group received acupuncture 1 h/d before the stress for 21 d.Their behaviors were observed and the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine 1A and 2A receptors(5-HT1AR and 5-HT2AR) mRNA in hippocampus were determined.Results There was significant decrease in the autonomic-behavior in the model group compared with the normal group(P0.01).The autonomic-behavior in acupuncture group increased compared with the model group(P0.01).The expression of 5-HT1AR mRNA in hippocampus of model group decreased and the 5-HT2AR mRNA increased compared with the normal group(P0.01).The expression of 5-HT1AR mRNA increased and the 5-HT2AR mRNA decreased in the hippocampus of acu-puncture group compared with model group(P0.05).Conclusion Acupuncture is effective on SDD by re-balance the function of 5-HT re-ceptors.