Antidepressive Effects of Environmental Enrichment in Chronic Stress-Induced Depression in Rats

Depression is caused by a variety of factors, especially stressful life events. Chronic stress-induced depression has detrimental effects on hippocampal integrity. Environmental enrichment (EE) is a beneficial intervention for improving anxiety, fear, and stress. We aimed to investigate the antidepr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inBiological research for nursing Vol. 20; no. 1; p. 40
Main Authors Seong, Ho-Hyun, Park, Jong-Min, Kim, Youn-Jung
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published United States 01.01.2018
Subjects
Animals
Chronic Disease - therapy
Depression - etiology
Depression - therapy
Environment
Hippocampus - physiopathology
Male
Rats
Rats, Sprague-Dawley
Stress, Psychological - complications
environmental enrichment
fluoxetine
depression
BDNF
TPH
VEGF
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Summary:Depression is caused by a variety of factors, especially stressful life events. Chronic stress-induced depression has detrimental effects on hippocampal integrity. Environmental enrichment (EE) is a beneficial intervention for improving anxiety, fear, and stress. We aimed to investigate the antidepressive effects of EE in a depressive rat model (DEP) that was subjected to chronic stress. The control group ( n = 10) was kept under normal conditions, while depressive rats ( n = 8 per group) were randomized into DEP, DEP + EE, and DEP + fluoxetine (Flx) groups. DEP + EE/Flx groups were exposed to standard housing and EE or Flx, respectively. The behavioral tests showed that hopelessness and anxiety were decreased in DEP + EE and DEP + Flx groups compared with the DEP group ( p < .05). Similarly, the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and tryptophan hydroxylase was significantly higher in the DEP + EE and DEP + Flx ( p < .05) groups. The levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and tyrosine receptor kinase B were also significantly higher in the DEP + EE and DEP + Flx groups compared with the DEP group ( p < .05). Our findings can serve as a foundation for future investigations examining the effects of environmental improvement and physical exercise in patients with depression. This study suggests that EE may be useful for mitigating the detrimental effects of chronic stress in patients with depression.
ISSN:1552-4175
DOI:10.1177/1099800417730400