Abstract
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) occurs following life-threatening events. The activity of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, which serves as the first line of defense against stress, is dysfunctional in this disorder. The current study aimed to investigate the role of Crocin in normalizing HPA function in an animal model of PTSD induced by electric foot shock. Rats were treated with Crocin 5 min prior to stress induction. The stimulus was re-introduced after 21 days, and we measured individual behaviors such as sniffing, rearing, grooming, and freezing. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays were performed to measure plasma levels of Corticosterone. On day 28, after rats were weighed and sacrificed, the adrenal and thymus glands were removed and subjected to real-time polymerase chain reaction to quantify the gene expression of corticotrophin-releasing hormone (CRH), glucocorticoid receptor (GluR), and arginine vasopressin (AVP). Our results demonstrate that rats re-exposed to a stressor developed characteristic symptoms of PTSD, but these were attenuated by Crocin. Treated rats showed significant changes in CRH expression in the hypothalamus, GluR expression in the pituitary, plasma Corticosterone levels, and freezing behavior. Together, these findings suggest that Crocin can regulate HPA axis activity in PTSD. It may serve an appropriate treatment for subjects who experience a traumatic event.
Highlights
Epidemiologic studies have reported that about 4–23% of people with traumatic damages manifest post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms including re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal for at least 1 month (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Arnberg et al, 2013; Zhou et al, 2013)
The time required for freezing was significantly increased [F(5, 38) = 6.03 p < 0.001, Partial Eta Squared = 0.44], whereas the time required for behaviors such as sniffing [F(5, 38) = 6.14, p < 0.001, Partial Eta Squared = 0.44], rearing [F(5, 38) = 5.31, p < 0.001, Partial Eta Squared = 0.41], and grooming [F(5, 38) = 16.57, p < 0.001, Partial Eta Squared = 0.68] was remarkably decreased in PTSD animals (Table 2)
Serum Corticosterone was significantly higher in the PTSD+Crocin group (83.50 ± 8.52), compared with the positive control and PTSD+saline groups (Figure 4)
Summary
Epidemiologic studies have reported that about 4–23% of people with traumatic damages manifest post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms including re-experiencing, avoidance, and hyperarousal for at least 1 month (American Psychiatric Association, 2013; Arnberg et al, 2013; Zhou et al, 2013). The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is the main neuroendocrine arm of the stress response. It includes corticotrophinreleasing hormone (CRH) release from the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus into the hypophyseal-portal circulation, stimulating the anterior pituitary gland to release adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and glucocorticoids from the adrenal cortex. Role of Crocin in Treatment of PTSD. This mechanism maintains homeostasis in stressful environmental conditions (Jacobson, 2005).
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