Effects of Total Saponins from Panax Notoginseng Leaves on Brain Monoamine Neurotransmitters and Neurotrophic Factors in a Depressive Rat Model
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Abstract:
A chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rat model of depression was established. The levels of serotonin (5-HT), noradrenaline (NA), and dopamine (DA) as well as the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), tropomyosin-related kinase B (TrkB), phosphorylated cAMP response element-binding protein (pCREB), and phosphorylated extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1 and 2 (pERK1/2) were measured using competitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits and an immunohistochemistry (ICH)-staining method, respectively. The effect of the total saponins from leaves of Panax notoginseng on levels of brain monoamine neurotransmitters and neurotrophic factors were evaluated. After the model was established for five weeks, the body weight and the sucrose preference in the animals of the CUMS group were significantly reduced by 17.43% and 39.49%, respectively, compared with the control group. Moreover, CUMS procedure induced a significant decrease in the exploratory locomotor activity, an increased total duration of thigmotaxis, and a signi?cant decrease in the mass percentage of the hippocampus relative to the whole brain. Animals exhibited depression-like symptoms, such as body weight loss, anhedonia, decrease in locomotor activity, and reduction of hippocampal volume, similar to major human depressive symptoms. Compared with the CUMS group, chronic treatment with SLPN could effectively reverse the aforementioned CUMS-induced symptoms. SLPN at a dose of 100 mg/kg significantly increased the NA and DA levels in the brain of CUMS-treated rats by 13.89% and 19.66%, respectively, but had no significant effects on the 5-HT levels as compared with the CUMS group. In addition, SLPN also signi?cantly improved BDNF, TrkB, pCREB, and pERK1/2 expression in the CUMS-treated rats by 16.67%, 47.83%, 20.42%, and 22.84%, respectively. Taken together, these data indicate that SLPN exhibits excellent antidepressant-like properties.
