ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVE This study was designed to evaluate the effect of berberine on CUMS induced depression animal model and investigated the underlying mechanisms.METHODS We estab-lished CUMS depressant rat model and treated CUMS rats with berberine.Sucrose preference,forced swim test(FST)and tail suspension test(TST)were used to measure behaviors change.We used Q-PCR 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 experi-ments showed that berberine treatment up-regulated the expression of Keap1-Nrf2 antioxidant signaling pathway and its downstream neuroprotective factors. CONCLUSION Our present results suggested that treatment of berberine significantly ameliorated depressive behaviors in CUMS rats through enhancing of Keap1-Nrf2 antioxidant signaling pathways in hippocampus.