[Effect of massage on depressive behavior of chronic stress rats and its mechanism]

Objective: To investigate the effects and mechanisms of massage on the depressive behavior of rats with chronic stress. Methods: The rats were subjected to chronic unpredictable mild stress for 21 days and then treated with massage for 14 days. They were divided into the following groups: blank control group, model group, massage group and fluoxetine group, with 10 rats in each group. The important acupoints of bladder meridian were massaged for 10 minutes every day (with an interval of 2 minutes, 2 times in total). Body weight, open field test, sucrose intake test and water maze test were used to evaluate the behavioral changes. The expressions of Erk/p-ERK (Extracellular signal-related kinases/Phosphorylation extracellular signal-related kinases) and BDNF in prefrontal cortex were detected by Western Blot. Results: The body weight, open field sucrose intake test and water maze data of the model group were significantly lower than those of the Control Group (P＜0.01), and the contents of p-ERK and BDNF protein in prefrontal cortex were decreased significantly (P＜0.01). The body weight, open field test, sucrose intake test and water maze test data of rats in massage group and fluoxetine group were significantly higher than those in model group(P＜0.01). The contents of p-ERK and BDNF in frontal cortex were increased significantly (P＜0.05, P＜0.01), especially in fluoxetine group (P＜0.01). Conclusion: Massage may increase the phosphorylation level of ERK protein in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, activate ERK signaling pathway, promote the expression of BDNF, and improve the depression behavior of chronic stress rats.