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Updated: Jun 10, 2025
Electroconvulsive Seizures in Rats and Fractionation of Their Hippocampi to Examine Seizure-induced Changes in Postsynaptic Density Proteins
Published on: August 15, 2017
The Role of BDNF in the Antidepressant Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy
V M Ushakova1,2, E A Zubkov3, A Yu Morozova3
1Department of Basic and Applied Neurobiology, Serbsky National Medical Research Center of Psychiatry and Narcology of the RF Ministry of Public Health, Moscow, Russia. ushakovavm@yandex.ru.
Abstract:
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment method for depression therapy. It produces a number of biological effects, including neurotrophic factors regulation. In the present paper, we investigated the ECT response in depressed rats subjected to the variable frequency ultrasound (20-45 kHz) and examined the contribution of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression changes to the observed effects. The obtained results reflect the therapeutic potential of ECT for the treatment of depressive-like state in rodents and indicate the role of BDNF in these processes. In future research, it is necessary to investigate the relationship between neurotrophin and structural changes and to study other neurotrophic biomarkers that may be associated with the development of depression-like state and the therapy response.
