School of Chinese Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, N.T., Hong Kong, China.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2010 Aug 19;131(1):182-6. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2010.06.019. Epub 2010 Jun 19.
SYJN is a Chinese herbal formula that contains four herbs: Bupleurum chinense DC., Curcuma aromatica Salisb., Perilla frutescens (L.) Britt., and Acorus tatarinowii Schott. Previous studies conducted in our laboratory have revealed an antidepressant-like effect of the formula in chronic unpredictable stress (CUS)-induced depression model in rats. The present study aimed to investigate whether neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and nerve growth factor (NGF) are involved in the antidepressant-like action of SYJN by using the same depressive model in rats.
Rats were subjected to an experimental setting of CUS. The mechanism underlying the antidepressant-like action of SYJN was examined by measuring protein and mRNA expression of NT-3 and NGF in brain tissues of CUS-exposed rats.
The results showed that NT-3 protein and mRNA expression in the hippocampus and frontal cortex were significantly decreased in CUS-treated rats. CUS treatment also significantly decreased NGF protein and mRNA expression in the frontal cortex of the animals. Daily intragastric administration of SYJN (1300 or 2600 mg/kg/day) during the 4 weeks of CUS significantly suppressed these changes induced by CUS.
The results suggest that the antidepressant-like activity of SYJN is likely mediated by the increases in NT-3 and NGF expression in brain tissues.
SYJN 是一种中药配方，包含四种草药：柴胡、姜黄、紫苏和石菖蒲。本实验室之前的研究表明，该配方对慢性不可预测应激（CUS）诱导的抑郁模型大鼠具有抗抑郁作用。本研究旨在通过相同的抑郁模型大鼠，探讨神经生长因子-3（NT-3）和神经生长因子（NGF）是否参与 SYJN 的抗抑郁作用。
大鼠接受 CUS 实验环境。通过测量 CUS 暴露大鼠脑组织中 NT-3 和 NGF 的蛋白和 mRNA 表达，研究 SYJN 抗抑郁作用的机制。
结果显示，CUS 处理大鼠海马体和额叶皮质中的 NT-3 蛋白和 mRNA 表达明显降低。CUS 处理还显著降低了动物额叶皮质中的 NGF 蛋白和 mRNA 表达。在 4 周 CUS 期间，每天给予 SYJN（1300 或 2600mg/kg/天）灌胃，可显著抑制 CUS 引起的这些变化。
结果提示，SYJN 的抗抑郁作用可能是通过增加脑组织中 NT-3 和 NGF 的表达来介导的。
