ABSTRACT
Objective: To study the antidepressive effect of the petroleum ether extract from Ranae Oviductus (PERO) on chronic mild stress depressive rat model and its mechanism. Methods: The rats were divided into control, model, Fluoxetine (10 mg/kg, positive control), and different doses (30, 100, and 300 mg/kg) of PERO groups. The rats in PERO groups were administered once daily for 21 d, while the rats in the control and model groups were administered with equivalent normal saline. After 1 h for the rats in PERO and model groups and 0.5 h for the rats in Fluoxetine group of the last administration, the chronic unpredictable mild stress for 21 d was used to induce the depression in rats. The body weight was measured and the depressive-like behaviors were evaluated by the open-field test and sucrose preference test. Then the corticosterone level in the rat plasma was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) protein levels in the hippocampus were measured by Western blotting analysis. Results: Compared with the control group, the body weight, sucrose preference, and motion distance in open-field test of rats were decreased, the corticosterone level in plasma was increased, and the BDNF level in hippocampus was decreased. Compared with the model group, PERO treatment alleviated the body weight decreasing, increased the sucrose preference and motion distance, reduced the corticosterone level in the plasma of rats, and increased the BDNF level in hippocampus of rats. Conclusion: The antidepressive effect of PERO is likely mediated by modulating the function of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis and increasing the expression of BDNF in brain tissues.