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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychiatry
Sec. Anxiety and Stress Disorders
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyt.2024.1496201
This article is part of the Research Topic Molecular Mechanisms in Psychiatry 2023: Anxiety and Stress View all 6 articles

Confronting the Anxiety of Generation Z: Electroacupuncture Therapy Regulates Oxidative Stress and Microglia Activity in Amygdala-Basolateral of Socially Isolated Mice

Provisionally accepted
Tong Yin Tong Yin 1Junyun Yuan Junyun Yuan 1*Yinxin Wang Yinxin Wang 1*Yuanfang Lin Yuanfang Lin 2Wen Kang Wen Kang 3*Hang Lv Hang Lv 3*
  • 1 Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
  • 2 Shenzhen Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital, Shenzhen ，Guangdong, China
  • 3 Guangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Anxiety is a prevalent mental disorder that significantly impairs daily functioning and social interactions. Pharmacological treatments, while effective, often face challenges such as resistance, side effects, and relapse. Electroacupuncture (EA) has emerged as a promising non-pharmacological intervention for anxiety, but its underlying mechanisms remain unclear. This study focuses on the role of microglial cells in anxiety, specifically investigating how EA affects microglial morphology and function in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) under conditions of social isolation-induced anxiety.Using a mouse model, we assessed anxiety-like behaviors via the Elevated Plus Maze (EPM) and Open Field Test (OFT), and conducted biochemical analyses and immunofluorescence imaging to evaluate NADPH oxidase 2 (NOX2) expression, microglial activation, and oxidative stress markers.Our findings demonstrate that EA significantly mitigates anxiety-like behaviors, reduces NOX2 expression in BLA microglia, decreases reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and improves microglial morphology. These results suggest that EA exerts its anxiolytic effects by modulating oxidative stress and microglial activity in the BLA, providing new insights into the cellular mechanisms of EA in anxiety management.

    Keywords: Generation Z, Social Isolation, Anxiety disorder, Electroacupuncture, microglia， basolateral amygdala, Oxidative Stress

    Received: 13 Sep 2024; Accepted: 31 Dec 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Yin, Yuan, Wang, Lin, Kang and Lv. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence:
    Junyun Yuan, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
    Yinxin Wang, Guangzhou University of Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
    Wen Kang, Guangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China
    Hang Lv, Guangzhou Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Guangzhou, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.