Berberine ameliorates chronic unpredictable mild stress induced depression like behaviors and elevating kelch-like erythroid cell-derived protein with CNC homology-associated protein 1-nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 antioxidant signaling pathways

Pharmacognosy Magazine,2018,14,56,371-377.DOI:10.4103/pm.pm_181_17Published:August 2018Type:Original ArticleAuthors:Wenqi Gao, Zhifang Deng, Xiaowen Liu, Jun Hu, Pengyi Deng, and Leijuan Chi Author(s) affiliations:Wenqi Gao1, Zhifang Deng2, Xiaowen Liu1, Jun Hu1, Pengyi Deng3, Leijuan Chi4 1 Department of Central Laboratory, The First College of Clinical Medical Science, China Three Gorges University and Yichang Central People's Hospital, Yichang 443000, China 2 Department of Pharmacy, The First College of Clinical Medical Science, China Three Gorges University and Yichang Central People's Hospital, Yichang 443000, China 3 Department of Nuclear Medicine, The First College of Clinical Medical Science, China Three Gorges University and Yichang Central People's Hospital, Yichang 443000, China 4 Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Yichang Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Yichang 443000, China Abstract:Background: Studies have reported that depression is associated with increased level of oxidative stress and accompanied with decreased Kelch-like erythroid cell-derived protein with CNC homology-associated protein 1-nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 (Keap1-Nrf2) signaling pathway. Berberine has been shown to possess properties on protection against neurodegenerative diseases, but its effects on chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) induced depressive such as behaviors and Keap1-Nrf2 signaling pathway are unknown. Objective: This study was designed to evaluate the effect of berberine on CUMS induced depression animal model and investigate the underlying mechanisms. Materials and Methods: We established CUMS depressant rats model and treated CUMS rats with berberine. Sucrose preference test, forced swim test , and tail suspension test were used to measure behavioral changes. We used quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot to test the levels of cytokines in the hippocampus. Results: We found that CUMS rats displayed obvious depressive-like behaviors. Moreover, berberine treatment prevented depressive behaviors in CUMS rats accompanied with suppression of oxidative stress markers. Further experiments showed that berberine treatment up-regulated the expression of Keap1-Nrf2 antioxidant signaling pathway and its downstream neuroprotective factors. Conclusion: The present results suggested that treatment of berberine significantly ameliorated depressive-like behaviors in CUMS rats and enhanced Keap1-Nrf2 antioxidant signaling pathways in hippocampus. Keywords:berberine, Depressive-like behaviors, Kelch-like erythroid cell-derived protein with CNC homology-associated protein 1-nuclear factor (erythroid-derived 2)-like 2 antioxidant signaling pathwayView:PDF (1.2 MB)