Dopamine and its receptors are currently recognized targets for the treatment of several neuropsychiatric disorders, including Parkinson’s disease, schizophrenia, some drug use addictions, as well as depression. Dopamine receptors are widely distributed in various regions of the brain, but their role and exact contribution to neuropsychiatric diseases has not yet been thoroughly studied. Based on the types of dopamine receptors and their distribution in different brain regions, this paper reviews the current research status of the molecular, cellular and circuit mechanisms of dopamine and its receptors involved in depression. Multiple lines of investigation of these mechanisms provide a new future direction for understanding the etiology and treatment of depression and potential new targets for antidepressant treatments.

Academics generally believe that imbalance between excitation and inhibition of the nervous system is the root cause of epilepsy. However, the aetiology of epilepsy is complex, and its pathogenesis remains unclear. Many studies have shown that epilepsy is closely related to genetic factors. Additionally, the involvement of a variety of tumour‐related transcription factors in the pathogenesis of epilepsy has been confirmed, which also confirms the heredity of epilepsy. In this review, we summarize the existing research on a variety of transcription factors and epilepsy and present relevant evidence related to transcription factors that may be targets in epilepsy. This information is of great significance for revealing the in‐depth molecular and cellular mechanisms of epilepsy.

Objective To investigate spiritual care perceptions, spiritual well-being, and empathy, examine the correlations among spiritual care perceptions, spiritual well-being, and empathy, and explore the mediating role of spiritual well-being between other two variables of Chinese nursing students. Methods A cross-sectional design was implemented, and the Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) Checklist was used to ensure quality reporting of the study. A cluster sample of 2,718 nursing students was selected from 7 universities and colleges in China. The demographic characteristics questionnaire, the Chinese Version of the Spiritual Care-Giving Scale (C-SCGS), the Spiritual Health Scale Short Form (SHS-SF), and the Jefferson Scale of Physician Empathy-Nursing Student (JSPE-NS) were used. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and process plug-in mediation effect analyses were used to analyze the data. Results The total score of spiritual care perceptions, spiritual well-being, and empathy were 173.83 ± 25.62, 98.74 ± 12.87, and 105.04 ± 21.34, respectively. Spiritual care perceptions were positively correlated with spiritual well-being (r = 0.617, p < 0.01) and empathy (r = 0.528, p < 0.01). And spiritual well-being played a partial mediating role between the other two variables (accounting for 28.1%). Significance of results Spiritual care perceptions, spiritual well-being, and empathy were quite moderate, which need in improving. It is suggested that nursing educators pay attention to the spiritual care education of nursing students, perfect the spiritual care education system, and take targeted measures according to nursing students’ individual personality traits and differences, improve their spiritual well-being and empathy in multiple ways, so as to improve their spiritual care perceptions and competence.

Background Previous studies have shown that estrogen and acute fasting for 9 hours have antidepressant-like effects, by reducing immobility time in the forced swimming test. Estrogen and acute fasting share a common regulatory gene, Rasd2. RASD2 regulates dopamine D2 receptor (DRD2) transmission, but the role of Rasd2 in the DRD2-mediated antidepressant-like effect of acute fasting has not been examined. Methods In this study, open field test, forced swimming test, tail suspension test and sucrose preference test were used for behavioral assessments. RNA-seq, western blot, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and co-immunoprecipitation were used to explore the role of Rasd2 in a depression model induced by ovariectomy, and the antidepressant-like effects of 9-hour fasting. Results The RNA seq results show that acute fasting induced a significant change in Rasd2 gene expression. Depression-like behaviors induced by ovariectomy was associated with decrease in RASD2 and DRD2 protein levels in the hippocampus, and Rasd2 overexpression in the hippocampus alleviated depression-like behaviors and increased DRD2 expression. 9-hour fasting has antidepressant-like effects in ovariectomized mice, by up-regulating the protein levels of RASD2, DRD2, CREB-BDNF, Akt, and estrogen receptor beta, and above effects can be blocked by DRD2 antagonists. Conclusions Our results suggest that Rasd2 and DRD2 play pivotal roles in depression-like behavior induced by ovariectomy. Rasd2 regulates DRD2-mediated antidepressant-like effects of acute fasting in ovariectomized mice. Rasd2 can therefore be postulated to be a potential therapeutic target for depression, and perhaps also a potential predictive marker for depression.