ABSTRACT
This article was aimed to investigate the function and mechanism of Kai-Xin Jie-Yu (KXJY) pill on depression.The depression model rats were established by chronic unpredictable mild stress and separation.The sucrose preference test and Morris water maze (MWM) were performed.The regulation effects of neural plasticity-related genes including glycogen synthase kinase-3β (GSK-3β),cAMP-response element binding protein (CREB),5-hydroxytryptamine 2C receptors (HTR2C),and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) were determined.The results showed that among depression model rats,KXJY pill significantly increased the sucrose preference and the escape latency of MWM in a certain extent.The neural plasticity-related genes including GSK-3β and HTR2C mRNA were decreased significantly,whereas CREB and VEGF mRNA were increased significantly with the treatment of KXJY pill.It was concluded that KXJY pill had the function of reducing depression-like behavior,which might be mediated by the regulation of GSK-3β,CREB,HTR2C and VEGF.