Issue 6, 2016

The effect of Schisandra chinensis extracts on depression by noradrenergic, dopaminergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic systems in the forced swim test in mice

Abstract

Schisandra chinensis (Turcz.) Baill., as a Chinese functional food, has been widely used in neurological disorders including insomnia and Alzheimer's disease. The treatment of classical neuropsychiatric disorder depression is to be developed from Schisandra chinensis. The antidepressant-like effects of the Schisandra chinensis extracts (SCE), and their probable involvement in the serotonergic, noradrenergic, dopaminergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic systems were investigated by the forced swim test (FST). Acute administration of SCE (600 mg kg−1, i.g.), a combination of SCE (300 mg kg−1, i.g.) and reboxetine (a noradrenalin reuptake inhibitor, 2.5 mg kg−1, i.p.) or imipramine (a TCA, 2 mg kg−1, i.p.) reduced the immobility time in the FST. Pretreatment with N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine hydrochloride (DSP-4, a selective noradrenergic neurotoxin, 50 mg kg−1, i.p., 4 days), haloperidol (a non-selective D2 receptor antagonist, 0.2 mg kg−1, i.p.), SCH 23390 (a selective D1 receptor antagonist, 0.03 mg kg−1, i.p.), bicuculline (a competitive GABA antagonist, 4 mg kg−1, i.p.) and N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA, an agonist at the glutamate site, 75 mg kg−1, i.p.) effectively reversed the antidepressant-like effect of SCE (600 mg kg−1, i.g.). However, p-chlorophenylalanine (pCPA, an inhibitor of 5-HT synthesis, 100 mg kg−1, i.p., 4 days,) did not eliminate the reduced immobility time induced by SCE (600 mg kg−1, i.g.). Moreover, the treatments did not change the locomotor activity. Altogether, these results indicated that SCE produced antidepressant-like activity, which might be mediated by the modification of noradrenergic, dopaminergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic systems.

Graphical abstract: The effect of Schisandra chinensis extracts on depression by noradrenergic, dopaminergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic systems in the forced swim test in mice

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
10 мар 2016
Accepted
14 май 2016
First published
17 май 2016

Food Funct., 2016,7, 2811-2819

The effect of Schisandra chinensis extracts on depression by noradrenergic, dopaminergic, GABAergic and glutamatergic systems in the forced swim test in mice

T. Yan, M. Xu, B. Wu, Z. Liao, Z. Liu, X. Zhao, K. Bi and Y. Jia, Food Funct., 2016, 7, 2811 DOI: 10.1039/C6FO00328A

To request permission to reproduce material from this article, please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

If you are an author contributing to an RSC publication, you do not need to request permission provided correct acknowledgement is given.

If you are the author of this article, you do not need to request permission to reproduce figures and diagrams provided correct acknowledgement is given. If you want to reproduce the whole article in a third-party publication (excluding your thesis/dissertation for which permission is not required) please go to the Copyright Clearance Center request page.

Read more about how to correctly acknowledge RSC content.

Social activity

Spotlight

Advertisements