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Gamma-animobutyric acid (GABA) systems are emerging as targets for development of medications for mood disorders. Deficits in GABA-containing neurons are consistently reported in psychiatric disease, particularly in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) that use magnetic field to stimulate focal cortical regions with electrical current have a potential therapeutic effects with non-invasive and painless method. In this study, we used chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rat model of depression to investigate the behavioral and neurochemical alterations. Furthermore, chronic rTMS treatment effect on neurochemical profile in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of rats were assessed. The CUMS induced significant reductions in absolute sucrose intake and sucrose preference. In addition, high-resolution (1)H-NMR spectra from brain extracts revealed significantly reduced prefrontal and hippocampal GABA levels in CUMS rats compared to control. The behavioral and neurochemical changes were reversed by chronic rTMS treatment. Furthermore, chronic rTMS treatments results in differential effects on different brain regions. Our results suggest specific and regionally different metabolic response to chronic rTMS treatment in animal model of depression.

Repeated exposure to dizocilpine (MK-801) can be used as a model of schizophrenia that incorporates disease progression. Proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy ( 1 H MRS) has been widely used to investigate schizophrenia-related alterations in glutamate (Glu). The purpose of this study was to investigate metabolic alterations in the prefrontal cortex (PFC) in an animal model of schizophrenia by using in vivo 1 H MRS. Because of the spectral overlap of Glu and glutamine (Gln), high-field 1 H MRS with short echo time (TE) was used. A point-resolved spectroscopy sequence was used to measure the levels of Glu and Gln, and the brain metabolites in a volume of interest (22.5 μL) located in the PFC region of rats (n = 13) before and after 6 days of MK-801 (0.5 mg/kg) treatment. Analysis of the spectra showed that the cross-contamination of Glu and Gln can be considered to comparably low. No metabolic parameters were altered ( p > 0.05). However, differences in Glu and N-acetylaspartate (NAA) levels between two times were significantly correlated ( p 1 H MRS can quantify Glu and Gln with reliably low level of cross-contamination and that repeated exposure to MK-801 induces the progressive development of schizophrenia.

Gamma-animobutyric acid (GABA) systems are emerging as targets for development of medications for mood disorders. Deficits in GABA-containing neurons are consistently reported in psychiatric disease, particularly in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) that use magnetic field to stimulate focal cortical regions with electrical current have a potential therapeutic effects with non-invasive and painless method. In this study, we used chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rat model of depression to investigate the behavioral and neurochemical alterations. Furthermore, chronic rTMS treatment effect on neurochemical profile in prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of rats were assessed. The CUMS induced significant reductions in absolute sucrose intake and sucrose preference. In addition, high-resolution (1)H-NMR spectra from brain extracts revealed significantly reduced prefrontal and hippocampal GABA levels in CUMS rats compared to control. The behavioral and neurochemical changes were reversed by chronic rTMS treatment. Furthermore, chronic rTMS treatments results in differential effects on different brain regions. Our results suggest specific and regionally different metabolic response to chronic rTMS treatment in animal model of depression.