Hu Yuan, Liao Hong-bo, Liu Ping, Guo Dai-hong, Wang Yu-yu
Department of Clinical Pharmacology and Pharmacy, General Hospital of People's Liberation Army of China, Beijing 100853, China.
Zhong Xi Yi Jie He Xue Bao. 2009 Jul;7(7):667-70. doi: 10.3736/jcim20090712.
To study the antidepressant effects of piperine in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rats and to explore the underlying mechanisms in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis.
Fifty rats were housed alone and exposed to an unpredicted sequence of mild stressors to induce CUMS, and then were divided into untreated group, desipramine group and low-, medium- and high-dose piperine groups. Another 10 normal rats were used as normal control. The behavior of the rats was detected by body weight and sucrose preference test, and the serum levels of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH), adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) and corticosterone (CORT) in different groups were observed by radioimmunoassay.
The results indicated that after 21-day administration, piperine at concentrations of 10 and 20 mg/kg could significantly improve the behavioral disorder by increasing sucrose consumption. Piperione at concentrations of 5, 10 and 20 mg/kg could remarkably reduce serum ACTH and CRH levels in the CUMS rats, but had little effect on the content of CORT.
Piperine can relieve depression in CUMS rats by modulating the function of HPA axis.
研究胡椒碱对慢性不可预测性轻度应激（CUMS）大鼠的抗抑郁作用，并探讨其在下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺（HPA）轴中的潜在机制。
将50只大鼠单独饲养，使其暴露于不可预测的轻度应激源序列以诱导CUMS，然后分为未治疗组、地昔帕明组和低、中、高剂量胡椒碱组。另取10只正常大鼠作为正常对照组。通过体重和蔗糖偏好试验检测大鼠行为，并采用放射免疫分析法观察不同组大鼠血清促肾上腺皮质激素释放激素（CRH）、促肾上腺皮质激素（ACTH）和皮质酮（CORT）水平。
结果表明，给药21天后，10和20mg/kg浓度的胡椒碱可通过增加蔗糖消耗显著改善行为障碍。5、10和20mg/kg浓度的胡椒碱可显著降低CUMS大鼠血清ACTH和CRH水平，但对CORT含量影响较小。
胡椒碱可通过调节HPA轴功能缓解CUMS大鼠的抑郁症状。
