Electroacupuncture alleviates depression and gastrointestinal dysfunction by rebalancing GABAergic activity in the central amygdala

Figure 6 Electroacupuncture improves behavior and gastric motility in mice with chemogenically activated central amygdala GABAergic neurons. A: Representative fluorescence image showing rAAV-VGAT-hM3Dq-mCherry injection in the central amygdala. Scale bar, 2 mm; inset: GAD67/mCherry co-localization in the central amygdala (red: HM3Dq-mCherry; green: GAD67; blue: DAPI). Scale bar, 10 μm; B: Schematic of the viral injection protocol and experimental timeline; C: Representative open-field heatmaps in hM3Dq-expressing mice under clozapine N-oxide alone and clozapine N-oxide + electroacupuncture conditions; D-F: Open-field outcomes: Central-zone distance traveled (D), dwell time (E), and number of entries (F); G: Representative three-dimensional heatmap of the free-feeding test; H: Quantification of percentage of time spent in the food zone during the free-feeding test; I: Representative heatmap of the elevated plus maze test; J and K: Quantification of percentage of open-arm entries and time spent in open arms; L: Sucrose preference test results; M: Quantification of immobility duration in the forced swim test; N: Immobility duration in the tail-suspension test; O: Representative trace of gastric motility; P: Quantification of mean contraction amplitude of gastric motility; Q: Quantification of mean frequency of gastric motility; R: Representative in vivo fluorescence images of gastric emptying; S: Quantification of gastric emptying over 75 minutes (percent fluorescence loss relative to baseline at time 0). Data are mean ± SE; statistics by student’s t-test or two-way analysis of variance as appropriate; n = 10 mice in each group. ^aP < 0.05, ^bP < 0.01, ^cP < 0.001. CeA: Central amygdala; CNO: Clozapine N-oxide; EA: Electroacupuncture.