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PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:dateCreated
2007-11-2
pubmed:abstractText
Vagus nerve stimulation therapy, effective for treatment-resistant epilepsy, has recently been approved also for treatment-resistant depression; nevertheless, the molecular mechanism(s) underlying its therapeutic action remains unclear. Given that neurotrophic factors and monoamines could play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of depression, we tested whether vagus nerve stimulation increases the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor, fibroblast growth factor, and nerve growth factor as well as the concentration of norepinephrine in the rat brain. Rats were implanted with a vagus nerve stimulator device and the effects of acute stimulation were evaluated on the growth factors mRNA levels and norepinephrine concentration by ribonuclease protection assay and microdialysis, respectively. We found that acute vagus nerve stimulation increased the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and fibroblast growth factor in the hippocampus and cerebral cortex, decreased the abundance of nerve growth factor mRNA in the hippocampus, and, similar to the antidepressant drug venlafaxine, increased the norepinephrine concentration in the prefrontal cortex. This study demonstrates that acute vagus nerve stimulation triggers neurochemical and molecular changes in the rat brain involving neurotransmitters and growth factors known to play a crucial role in neuronal trophism. These new findings contribute to the elucidation of the molecular mechanisms underlying the therapeutic actions of vagus nerve stimulation in both treatment-resistant depression and epilepsy.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Nov
pubmed:issn
0006-8993
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:day
7
pubmed:volume
1179
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
28-34
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2007
pubmed:articleTitle
Vagus nerve stimulation increases norepinephrine concentration and the gene expression of BDNF and bFGF in the rat brain.
pubmed:affiliation
Department of Experimental Biology, Section of Neuroscience, University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy. follesa@unica.it
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't