Fig. 6

Dietary lysine restriction may increase depression susceptibility in adolescent chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rats via modulating excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) in the prefrontal cortex (PFC). A The experiment schedule of the dietary lysine restriction study including four groups: Con+L100 (n = 8), Con+L70 (n = 8), CUMS+L100 (n = 9) and CUMS+L70 (n = 9). PND, postnatal day. SPT, sucrose preference test. OFT, open field test. EPM, elevated plus-maze test. FST, forced swim test. B Lower sucrose preference in SPT (left) and higher immobility time in FST (right) was found in CUMS+L70 group than CUMS+L100 and CON+L100 groups. Significance was calculated by Two-way ANOVA. C The number of up- and down-regulated differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in four comparisons of CUMS+L70 vs. CUMS+L100, Con+L70 vs. Con+L100, CUMS+L100 vs. Con+L100, and CUMS+L70 vs. Con+L70 (n = 8/group). D The DEGs involved Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) pathways in nervous system among four comparisons of CUMS+L70 vs. CUMS+L100, Con+L70 vs. Con+L100, CUMS+L100 vs. Con+L100, and CUMS+L70 vs. Con+L70. E Protein expression levels of EAAT2 and EAAT3 in CON+L70, CON+L100, CUMS+L70 and CUMS+L100 (n = 6/group)