To further demonstrate that EA could attenuate depression-like impairment in rats with neonatal MS, we measured the plasma ACTH and CORT levels, which is a biological indicator of depression and in part explains the relationship between hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis regulation and MS-induced depression (Mirescu et al., 2004; van der Doelen et al., 2014; Gururajan et al., 2016; Salvat-Pujol et al., 2017). This evidence concerns the gene POMC and major depressive disorder.