Antidepressant-like effects of piperine and its neuroprotective mechanism / 中国中药杂志

ABSTRACT

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To observe the antidepressant effect of piperine and its neuroprotective mechanism.</p><p><b>METHOD</b>The behavioral studies were performed in forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). To further explore the mechanisms underlying their antidepressant-like activities, CORT-induced neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells and isolated and cultured neural progenitor cells. By using MTT assay, the effect of piperine on neural cells proliferation was observed.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>The research results indicated that after a week of administration, piperine (10, 20 mg x kg(-1)) could significantly reduce the duration of immobility in both FST and TST. Piperine has the protective effect on neuroblastoma cells and increased proliferation of hippocampus neural progenitor cells.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>In the present study, we demonstrated that the antidepressant-like effects of piperine and its mechanisms might be involved by up-regulation of the progenitor cell proliferation of hippocampus and cytoprotective activity.</p>