The effects of glucocorticoids on depressive and anxiety-like behaviors, mineralocorticoid receptor-dependent cell proliferation regulates anxiety-like behaviors

作     者：Jiao Chen Zhen-Zhen Wang Shuai Zhang Shi-Feng Chu Zheng Mou Nai-Hong Chen 

作者机构：State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines Institute of Materia Medica & Neuroscience Center Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Beijing 100050 China. State Key Laboratory of Bioactive Substances and Functions of Natural Medicines Institute of Materia Medica & Neuroscience Center Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College Beijing 100050 China Hunan University of Chinese Medicine Changsha Hunan 410208 China. Hunan University of Chinese Medicine Changsha Hunan 410208 China Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine Guangzhou 510000 China. Electronic address: chennh@***. 

出 版 物：《Behavioural brain research》 

年 卷 期：2019年第362卷

页      面：288-298页

学科分类：1002[医学-临床医学] 10[医学] 

主　　题：Anxiety Cell proliferation Depression Glucocorticoids Mineralocorticoid receptor Serotonin 

摘      要：Glucocorticoids are vital stress response hormones and facilitate stress coping. However, sustained glucocorticoid exposure is associated with negative effects on brain. The precise role of glucocorticoids in depression and anxiety remains unclear. In the present study, we found that rats exposed to chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) showed anxiety-like behavior but not depressive-like behavior in the absence of glucocorticoid production. It was interesting to find that the level of serotonin (5-HT) and the expression of tryptophan hydroxylase-2 (TPH2) were decreased after CUS in the hippocampus in sham rats, while adrenalectomy (ADX) prevented such decreases. In addition, the neurogenesis in hippocampus decreased in both sham and ADX rats after stress exposure. Furthermore, inhibition of mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) with spironolactone induced anxiety like behavior in sham rats but not ADX rats. The proliferation of cells was blocked by spironolactone. In conclusion, our results indicate that MR-dependent neurogenesis was closely related with anxiety-like behavior.