Anales RANF

S17-02 THE ROLE OF PURINE RECEPTOR IN THE TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION BY taVNS Peijing Rong 1 , Yu Wang 1 , Ute Krügel 2 1 . Institute of Acupuncture and Moxibustion, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, China, 2 . Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology Medical Faculty University of Leipzig Härtelstr, Leipzig, Germany) Background: Depression is a common affective disorder. An increasing number of studies have focused on neuroimmunology, and evidence suggests that many molecules and intracellular signal transduction pathways that are closely associated with inflammation and immune responses have been implicated in the biological origin of this illness. As a new method of combining acupuncture and neuromodulation technology, transcutaneous vagus nerve stimulation (taVNS) is currently used in the treatment of many diseases. We've previously confirmed through clinical trials that taVNS can be effective in treating depression, and the data from animal experiments suggest that the antidepressant mechanism is associated with inflammation and purinergic receptors in the brain. Methods: This study was designed to assess the effectiveness of taVNS on depressive- like behavior caused by chronic stress in rats, and explore its potential mechanism of interaction between inflammation and purine receptors. Results: The data showed that taVNS’s antidepressant effect was accompanied by markedly decreased expression of NLRP3 and IL- 1β, and taVNS can significantly reverse stress-induced increases in P2X7R, IL- 1β and IL -18 expression in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex. Conclusion: taVNS may play an antidepressant role by reducing inflammation in the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, and this anti-inflammatory effect is negatively correlated with the expression of P2X7R. Keywords: taVNS, depression, inflammation, purine receptor, rats