Surgical stress induced depressive and anxiety like behavior are improved by dapsone via modulating NADPH oxidase level.

Surgical stress induced depression and anxiety like behavior are common complications among aged individuals suffering from surgery. Recent studies proposed that accumulation of oxidative stress is involved in the etiology of stress induced depression and anxiety. Dapsone possesses antioxidant properties, however, whether dapsone is effective in modulating surgical stress induced brain oxidative damage remains uncertain. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of dapsone on surgical stress induced depressive and anxiety like behavior, and brain oxidative stress in a well-established surgical stress model. Depressive and anxiety like behavior accompanied by elevated brain oxidative stress were observed in aged mice underwent abdominal surgery. Pretreatment with 5 mg/kg dapsone significantly improved the behavioral disorder and ameliorated brain oxidative stress in this model. Further investigation, revealed that surgical stress increased brain NADPH oxidase level, while pretreatment with dapsone abrogated the elevation of NADPH oxidase triggered by surgical stress. These findings suggest that dapsone is effective in improving surgical stress induced brain oxidative damage via down-regulating NADPH oxidase level in aged mice.