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Effects of Kaixin Jieyu Decoction (开心解郁汤) on behavior, monoamine neurotransmitter levels, and serotonin receptor subtype expression in the brain of a rat depression model

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Abstract

Objective

To determine the mechanisms underlying the anti-depressant effects of Kaixin Jieyu Decoction (开心解郁汤, KJD) by investigating the effects of KJD on behavior, monoamine neurotransmitter levels, and serotonin (5-HT) receptor subtype expression in the brain in a rat model of depression.

Methods

The rat depression model was established using chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Forty-eight Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into control, depression model (CUMS), CUMS+KJD (7.7 g/kg−1·d−1 of crude drug), and CUMS+fluoxetine (2.4 mg/kg−1·d−1) groups (n=12 in each group), and the treatments lasted for 21 days. We regularly evaluated body weight, sucrose consumption, and horizontal and vertical activity scores in open-field tests. The content of the monoamine neurotransmitters 5-HT, norepinephrine (NE), and dopamine (DA) and the DA metabolite homovanillic acid in the cerebral cortex, and 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptor mRNA in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, were determined respectively by high-performance liquid chromatography-coularray electrochemical detector and real-time polymerase chain reaction.

Results

Compared with the control group, CUMS rats showed a variety of depression-like behavioral changes, including a significant reduction in body weight, sucrose consumption, and horizontal and vertical activity scores in open-field tests (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and a significant decrease in 5-HT and NE levels and 5-HT2A receptor mRNA expression. In contrast, they showed a significant increase in 5-HT1A receptor mRNA expression in the cerebral cortex. In the hippocampus, 5-HT1A receptor mRNA expression was lower whereas 5-HT2A receptor mRNA expression was higher than in the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Treatment with KJD or fluoxetine partially attenuated these changes (P<0.05 or P<0.01).

Conclusion

KJD could normalize the levels of 5-HT and NE and adjust the balance of 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptor expression in rat cerebrum, and this may be one of mechanisms of antidepressant effects of KJD.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang’anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China

    Shi-jing Huang  (黄世敬), Xian-hui Zhang  (张先慧), Yan-yun Wang  (王彦云), Ju-hua Pan  (潘菊华), Han-ming Cui  (崔翰明), Su-ping Fang  (方素萍), Wei Wu  (吴 巍), Jun Zheng  (郑 军), Duo-jiao Li  (李多娇) & Ge Bai  (白 鸽)

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  1. Shi-jing Huang  (黄世敬)
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  2. Xian-hui Zhang  (张先慧)
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  3. Yan-yun Wang  (王彦云)
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  4. Ju-hua Pan  (潘菊华)
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  5. Han-ming Cui  (崔翰明)
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  6. Su-ping Fang  (方素萍)
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  7. Wei Wu  (吴 巍)
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  8. Jun Zheng  (郑 军)
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  9. Duo-jiao Li  (李多娇)
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  10. Ge Bai  (白 鸽)
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shi-jing Huang  (黄世敬).

Additional information

Supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 30672696 and 81072801)

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Huang, Sj., Zhang, Xh., Wang, Yy. et al. Effects of Kaixin Jieyu Decoction (开心解郁汤) on behavior, monoamine neurotransmitter levels, and serotonin receptor subtype expression in the brain of a rat depression model. Chin. J. Integr. Med. 20, 280–285 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-014-1343-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11655-014-1343-0

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