ABSTRACT
Objective To observe the metabolic changes in the whole brain of chronic unpredictable mild stimulations ( CUMS)-induced depressive rats using PET imaging technology.Methods After 4 weeks’ of CUMS, rats of experimental group were divided into two groups:Group D( depression) and Group ND( no depression) , according to the degree of sugar addiction, distance of spontaneous activity and relative body mass.Then metabolic changes in the whole brain of these rats and those in control group ( CON) were observed using PET technology, and the differences were companred between the threegroups.Results (1)ComparedwithGroupCON,metabolismofGroupDwaselevatedinbilateralS1,thalamus, globus pallidus, insula, M2 and left claustrum, but descended in right inferior colliculus, splenium of corpus callosum and cerebellum.(2) Metabolism of Group D increased in the bilateral CA3 region of hippocampus, M1, M2, striatum, S1 and olfactory bulb, but decreased in the left cuneate nucleus and hippocampus compared to Group ND.( 3 ) Compared with Group CON, there was no region of the brain in Group ND where metabolism was enhanced, but metabolism in the lateral septal nucleus, bilateral striatum, hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, bilateral S1 and right globus pallidus of Group ND was reduced.Conclusion The metabolic characteristic in the brain of depressive rats is that heightened regions are all in front of the coronal plane 4 mm post bregma, while lowered regions are behind.Moreover, both cerebral hemispheres are roughly symmetrical.It can be concluded that abnormal interactions between different regions of the brain contributes to the occurrence of depression.