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The antidepressant effect of secoisolariciresinol, a lignan-type phytoestrogen constituent of flaxseed, on ovariectomized mice

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Abstract

Secoisolariciresinol (SECO) is a natural lignan-type phytoestrogen constituent mainly found in flaxseed. It can be metabolized in vivo to mammalian lignans of enterodiol and enterolactone, which have been proven to be effective in relieving menopausal syndrome. Depression is one of the most common symptoms of menopausal syndrome, and is currently treated with estrogen replacement and antidepressant therapy. However, due to the serious side-effects of such agents, there are urgent needs for safer and more tolerable treatments. In this paper, using two classical depression models, the forced swimming test and the tail suspension test, we report the antidepressant effect of SECO on ovariectomized (OVX) mice by intragastric administration for 14 consecutive days at doses of 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg. The results showed that SECO (10 mg/kg) treatment could significantly reduce the duration of immobility of OVX mice in these two models compared with the control group (OVX mice + vehicle), which was similar to the positive control imipramine. In addition, SECO treatment could substantially increase brain monoamine (norepinephrine and dopamine) levels in OVX mice. The present studies showed that SECO can reverse depressive-like behavior and exhibit monoamine-enhancing effects.

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Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Dr. Guang-Yin Yao for considerable help with the revision, and to thank Beijing Ding-Guo Biology Co. Ltd for their technical assistance. This work was supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation (no. 30672622) and National Science and Technology Major Projects for "Major New Drugs Innovation and Development" (no. 2011ZX09102-011) of China to D.H.Yang.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Capital Normal University, 105 Xisanhuanbei Road, Beijing, 100048, China

    Ying-Feng Wang & Zhi-Kun Xu

  2. School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China

    Hai-Yan Yao, Bao-Shan Ku & Cheng-Zhi Wang

  3. School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Harbin Medical University, 194 Xuefu Road, Harbin, 150081, China

    Shu-Lin Liu

  4. State Key Laboratory of Natural and Biomimetic Drugs, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Peking University, 38 Xueyuan Road, Beijing, 100191, China

    Dong-Hui Yang, Xiao-Qing Ma & Shao-Qing Cai

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  1. Ying-Feng Wang
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  2. Zhi-Kun Xu
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Correspondence to Dong-Hui Yang.

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Wang, YF., Xu, ZK., Yang, DH. et al. The antidepressant effect of secoisolariciresinol, a lignan-type phytoestrogen constituent of flaxseed, on ovariectomized mice. J Nat Med 67, 222–227 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-012-0655-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11418-012-0655-x

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