Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and fluoxetine attenuate astroglial activation and benefit behaviors in a chronic unpredictable mild stress mouse model of depression

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect and underlying possible neuroprotective mechanism of rTMS and fluoxetine on abnormal behaviors in a depressive mouse model induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). After 28 days of CUMS exposure, mice were chronically treated with rTMS (10 Hz for 5 seconds per train, total 20 trains per day) and (or) fluoxetine (5 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally) for 28 days targeting on the frontal cortex. After the behavioral tests, the protein expressions of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) were measured by immunohistochemistry and (or) Western Blot. The results showed rTMS and (or) fluoxetine attenuated the locomotion decrease, anxiety and depressive-like behaviors in the CUMS-exposed mice. Our results suggest that both rTMS and fluoxetine could benefit the CUMS-induced abnormal behaviors including depressive-like behaviors, and the beneficial effects of rTMS as well as fluoxetine on depression might be partly related to their neuroprotective effect on attenuating astroglial activation and BDNF decrease.PMID:37942712 | DOI:10.1080/15622975.2023.2279958
Source: The World Journal of Biological Psychiatry - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Source Type: research