Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2017 Dec;20(4):257-264.
doi: 10.3831/KPI.2017.20.031. Epub 2017 Sep 25.

Scolopendra Pharmacopuncture Ameliorates Behavioral Despair in Mice Stressed by Chronic Restraint

Yu-Jin Choi  1   2 , Hwa-Young Lee  2   3 , Yunna Kim  1   2 , Seung-Hun Cho  2   3
Affiliations

Scolopendra Pharmacopuncture Ameliorates Behavioral Despair in Mice Stressed by Chronic Restraint

Yu-Jin Choi et al. J Pharmacopuncture. 2017 Dec.

Abstract

Introduction: Pharmacopuncture, which combines acupuncture with herbal medicine, is one of the newly developed acupuncture techniques that has recently been put into use. The possible mechanisms of scolopendra pharmacopuncture, as well as its potential effects on depressive symptoms, were investigated in this study by using a mouse model of chronic immobilization stress (CIS).

Methods: C57BL/6 male mice were randomly assigned into three groups: mice not stressed with restraint and injected with distilled water, mice stressed with restraint and injected with distilled water, and mice stressed with restraint injected with scolopendra pharmacopuncture at a cervical site. Behavioral tests (an open field test, tail suspension test, and forced swimming test) were carried out after two weeks of CIS and injection treatments. The expression levels of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) in the hippocampus were determined by using western blot and immunohistochemistry analyses.

Results: Mice exposed to CIS showed decreased behavioral activity, while scolopendra pharmacopuncture treatment significantly protected against the depressive-like behaviors induced by CIS. Moreover, scolopendra pharmacopuncture treatment increased GFAP protein levels in the hippocampi of the mice stressed by chronic immobilization.

Conclusion: Scolopendra pharmacopuncture has an ameliorating effect on depressive behavior, which is partially mediated through protection against glial loss in the hippocampus.

Keywords: Scolopendra; Scolopendra pharmacopuncture; depression; glial fibrillary acidic protein; pharmacopuncture.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest All authors declared that they have no conflicts of interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Experimental schedule. Mice were randomly divided into three groups: control (no restraint stress + distilled water injection), negative control (restraint stress + distilled water injection), and experimental (restraint stress + scolopendra pharmacopuncture injection). After two weeks of restraint stress and injection of water or pharmacopuncture, behavior tests, including the open field test (OFT), tail suspension test (TST), and forced swimming test (FST), were performed.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Effects of scolopendra pharmacopuncture on (A) body weight and (B) food intake in a mouse model of chronic immobilization stress. The body weights of the mice stressed by restraint were decreased compared to those of the control mice. The food intakes of the mice treated with scolopendra pharmacopuncture were higher than those of the mice treated with distilled water.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Effects of scolopendra pharmacopuncture and chronic immobilization stress on (A) the total distance moved and (B) the time spent in the inner zone on the open field test (OFT). No significant differences were observed among the three groups.
Figure 4
Figure 4
Effects of scolopendra pharmacopuncture on the immobility times of mice on (A) the tail suspension test and (B) the forced swimming test. Each column represents the mean ± the standard error of the mean (SEM). *P < 0.05 as compared with the control group; #P < 0.05 as compared with the CIS + distilled water group.
Figure 5
Figure 5
Effects of scolopendra pharmacopuncture on the immobility times of mice on (A) the tail suspension test and (B) the forced swimming test. Each column represents the mean ± the standard error of the mean (SEM). *P < 0.05 as compared with the control group; #P < 0.05 as compared with the CIS + distilled water group.
Figure 6
Figure 6
Effects of scolopendra pharmacopuncture on glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) expression in the hippocampus of the mouse brain. Images are shown for GFAP immunostaining in the CA3 region of the hippocampus of a mouse in (A and D) the control group, (B and E) the CIS + distilled water group, and (C and F) the scolopendra pharmacopuncture group.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Kessler RC, Berglund P, Demler O, Jin R, Koretz D, Merikangas KR, et al. The epidemiology of major depressive disorder: results from the National Comorbidity Survey Replication (NCS-R) JAMA. 2003;289(23):3095–105. doi: 10.1001/jama.289.23.3095. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Fava M, Kendler KS. Major Depressive Disorder. Neuron. 2000;28(2):335–41. doi: 10.1016/S0896-6273(00)00112-4. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Leo RJ, Ligot JS. A systematic review of randomized controlled trials of acupuncture in the treatment of depression. J Affect Disord. 2007;97(1):13–22. doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2006.06.012. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Smith CA, Hay PP, MacPherson H. Acupuncture for depression. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2010;(1):Cd004046. - PubMed
    1. Sarris J, Panossian A, Schweitzer I, Stough C, Scholey A. Herbal medicine for depression, anxiety and insomnia: a review of psychopharmacology and clinical evidence. Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2011;21(12):841–60. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2011.04.002. - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources