College of Pharmacy, Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou, People's Republic of China.
Collaborative Innovation Center for Respiratory Disease Diagnosis and Treatment and Chinese Medicine Development of Henan Province, Zhengzhou, People's Republic of China.
Artif Cells Nanomed Biotechnol. 2020 Dec;48(1):718-727. doi: 10.1080/21691401.2020.1774597.
(Chr) is a traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) that has been used in the treatment of inflammation-linked diseases for hundreds of years. Naringenin (Nar) and apigenin (Api) are the major active components in aqueous extracts of . The aim of our study was to clarify the roles of Chr, Nar and Api in ameliorating depression-like behaviour induced by corticosterone. First, the behavioural and biochemical indicators closely related to depression were examined to evaluate the therapeutic effects of Chr/Nar/Api on a depression model. Then, a metabolomics approach was utilized to screen for biomarkers and related pathways between a control group and Chr/Nar/Api groups. The comprehensive results revealed that Chr/Nar/Api exerted anti-depressant effects through interfering with tryptophan metabolism, arginine and prolinemetabolism, citrate cycle, niacin and niacinamide metabolism, phenylalanine metabolism, and alanine, aspartate and glutamate metabolism. The mechanism of Chr/Api/Nar in the treatment of depression was elucidated based on material and energy metabolism. Moreover, Nar could be used as a substitute for Chr for reversing depression-like behaviour, and Api was similar to a positive drug in terms of function on depression. The integrated metabolomics approach demonstrated here should be an effective method for interpreting the function of herbs from TCM and clarifying the mechanism of their components in future studies.
（Chr）是一种中药，数百年来一直用于治疗与炎症相关的疾病。柚皮苷（Nar）和芹菜素（Api）是 的水提物中的主要活性成分。我们的研究旨在阐明 Chr、Nar 和 Api 在改善皮质酮诱导的抑郁样行为中的作用。首先，我们检查了与抑郁密切相关的行为和生化指标，以评估 Chr/Nar/Api 对抑郁模型的治疗效果。然后，我们采用代谢组学方法筛选对照组和 Chr/Nar/Api 组之间的生物标志物和相关途径。综合结果表明，Chr/Nar/Api 通过干扰色氨酸代谢、精氨酸和脯氨酸代谢、柠檬酸循环、烟酸和烟酰胺代谢、苯丙氨酸代谢以及丙氨酸、天冬氨酸和谷氨酸代谢发挥抗抑郁作用。基于物质和能量代谢，阐明了 Chr/Api/Nar 治疗抑郁症的机制。此外，Nar 可替代 Chr 逆转抑郁样行为，而 Api 在治疗抑郁症方面与阳性药物相似。本研究中采用的综合代谢组学方法应该是解释中药功能和阐明其成分作用机制的有效方法，为未来的研究提供参考。
