Intestinal Flora Reconfiguration via Electroacupuncture: A Strategy to Counteract Depressive-Like Symptoms in Rats

Yuhui Tan,1,* Yuebei Wu,1,* Zhuying Chen,1 Zhinan Zhang,1 Shengtao Huang,1 Zheng Li,1 Yong Huang1,2 1School of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Acupuncture, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, 510515, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Yong Huang, Email nanfanglihuang@163.com Zhinan Zhang, Email luuuuuna@163.comBackground: Depression is a global health concern, and acupuncture has emerged as an effective treatment. The role of intestinal microbiota in depression remains unclear. This study, utilizing 16S rRNA high-throughput sequencing, aimed to explore the relationship between electroacupuncture (EA) and depressive behavior by examining changes in the intestinal microbiota.Materials and Methods: Forty-eight male Sprague-Dawley rats were utilized, with 13 assigned to the normal control (NC) group. The remaining rats underwent a 28-day depression modeling process, and those exhibiting depressive symptoms were randomly divided into chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and EA groups. The EA group received 14 days of treatment. Behavioral analyses were conducted on rats from the NC, CUMS, and EA groups to assess EA’s effectiveness. Additionally, 16S rRNA sequencing was performed on randomly selected rats from each group.Results: By examining the behavior of 39 rats and the intestinal microbiota of 18 rats, we found that EA may alter the composition of the intestinal microbiota community structure in CUMS rats, particularly modulating the abundance of Akkermansia in a manner potentially linked to gut–brain axis regulation, including stress- and inflammation-related pathways that may influence microbial composition.Conclusion: The potential antidepressant impact of electroacupuncture (EA) might be linked to the modulation of Akkermansia abundance within the brain-gut axis.Keywords: depression, Akkermansia, brain-gut axis, gastrointestinal microbiome, electroacupuncture