Recent studies have shown that vaned stress stimuli activate c-Jun N-terminal kinase(JNK),protein kinase B(Akt),and p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase(p38)signal transduction pathway,and also regulate various apoptotic cascades.JNK and p38 promote apoptosis,but Akt protects against apoptosis,in hippocampal neurons.However,changes in the transduction pathway in different regions of brain tissues in a chronic stress rat model of depression remain poorly understood.Results from this study showed that JNK phosphorylation levels were significantly greater in the stress group hippocampus compared with the control group(P < 0.05).No significant difference in JNK phosphorylation levels was detected in the rat cerebral cortex between stress and control groups,and no significant difference in Akt and p38 phosphorylation levels was detected in the rat hippocampus and cerebral cortex between stress and control groups(P > 0.05).These results suggested that the JNK signal pathway is activated by JNK phosphorylation and participates in pathophysiological changes in rat models of depression.