2-Nonadecanone Alleviates Depression through Inflammation Relief in SD Rat

Depression is a type of mood disorder characterized by hypochondriasis, decreased appetite, and insomnia. Depression is a disease that affects more than 100 million people worldwide. 2-Nonadecanone (NAC) is a bioactive substance that constitutes Fomes fomentarius, and NAC is expected to have an antidepressant effect. By using the forced swimming test (FST), we investigated the effects of treatment with NAC on immobility subacutely in rats after oral dosing once a day for 2 days. Serum levels of cytokine interleukin-1 beta (IL-1beta) and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Nuclear factor-2 (Nrf-2) and inducible nitric oxide synthases (iNOS) were analyzed by western blot method. NAC dose-dependently decreased immobility in the FST. NAC dosedependently decreased FST-induced increase of cytokine levels, as manifested by significantly stronger effects on IL-1 and TNF- levels at higher doses than the lowest dose of NAC. Western blot analysis showed that Nrf-2 was significantly lower in the NAC-treated group than in the disease-induced group. The iNOS results were also significantly lower in the NAC-treated group than in the other groups. Considering FST results, the antidepressant effect of NAC is effective. Considering the results of cytokine and protein expression, this anti-depressant effect may be related to the anti-inflammatory effect. Therefore, it can be said that the anti-inflammatory effect of NAC increases the antidepressant effect in the FST experiment.