Influence of Five-Element Music Therapy on Expression of CaMKII in Hippocampi in Rats with Post-Stroke Depression

Objective: To explore the influence of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) five-element music therapy on the expression of type II Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase (CaMK-II) in calmodulin signal pathway in cerebral hippocampus tissues in rats with post-stroke depression (PSD), so as to explain the action mechanism of five-element music therapy in the treatment of PSD. Methods: A total of 40 male SD rats with body mass of (220 ± 30) g were selected as study subjects and randomized into normal group, PSD model group, music therapy group, music therapy + acupuncture group and Fluoxetine group, 8 rats in each group. After one week of adaptive feed, PSD models were made. The treatment started on post-molding d19. Music therapy group and music therapy + acupuncture group were treated for 7 days as one cycle, with 2 days of rest between treatment cycles, for consecutive 2 cycles, while Fluoxetine group was treated with continuous gavage since start of treatment, qd, until the end of treatment. Hippocampus tissues were collected from rats' brains, after which quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) was used to detect the expression of CaMKIIgene, while western blot (WB) to detect the expression of CaMKIIprotein in rats' hippocampi. Results: Relative to normal group, model group was evidently lower in expression of CaMKIIgene and protein (P<;0.01). Relative to model group, music therapy + acupuncture group and Fluoxetine group were prominently higher in the expression of CaMKIIgene (P<;0.05), and music therapy group, music therapy + acupuncture group and Fluoxetine group were notably higher in the expression of CaMKII protein (P<;0.05). Conclusion: Five-element music therapy can increase the expression of CaMKIIgene and promote the expression of CaMKII protein in hippocampi of PSD rats, while five-element music therapy concomitant with acupuncture is more superior to single five-element music therapy in clinical efficacy.