Improvement in Symptoms of Anxiety in Rats by Aqueous Extract of Semen Ziziphi Spinosae and Its Effect on the Intestinal Flora
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Abstract:
The model of rats suffering from chronic, mild and unpredictable stress was used to explore the potential mechanism underlying the anxiety symptoms-alleviating effect of an aqueous extract of Semen Ziziphi Spinosae. Using reference indices associated with behaviors (sucrose preference rate, open field score, and time spent in the dark zone) and the intestinal flora, the effects of the aqueous extract of Semen ZiziphiSpinosae on the behaviors, and intestinal flora diversity, structure and composition in anxious model rats were studied. The results showed that compared with the model group (CUMS) group, chronic administration of Semen Ziziphi Spinosae significantly ameliorated chronic stress-induced aanxiety-like behaviors in rats (sugar water preference rate and open field score increased significantly, while the time spent in the dark box significantly decreased). The alpha diversity of the intestinal flora for the SZS group significantly increased (p<0.05), with the flora structure of the SZS group significantly different from the CUMS group. Further investigation revealed that the SZS group had significantly lower abundance of Lactobacillus (CUMS: 29.42%; SZS: 8.08%; p=0.003) and Ruminococcaceae_UCG-014 (CUMS: 3.30%; SZS: 2.14%; p=0.04), but higher abundance of Bacteroides (CUMS: 2.23%; SZS: 5.15%; p=0.001), norank_o_Mollicutes_RF9 (CUMS: 1.01%; SZS: 2.43%; p=0.019), Ruminiclostridium_9 (CUMS: 0.42%; SZS: 0.62%; p=0.034), Parabacteroides (CUMS: 0.35%; SZS: 0.60%; p=0.011), Butyricimonas (CUMS: 0.01%; SZS: 0.03%; p=0.018) and Acetatifactor (CUMS: 0.01%; SZS: 0.03%; p=0.001), compared with the CUMS group. These results indicated that Semen Ziziphi Spinosae could alleviate the anxiety-related symptoms in CUMS rats and affect their intestinal flora structure, which provides a theoretical basis for the potential working mechanism.
