Effects of Wenyang Jieyu Granules on the Behavior and Serum Level of Monoamine Neurotransmitter in Depression Model Rats / 中国药房

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE： To study the anti-depressive effects of Wenyang jieyu granules and its possible mechanism. METHODS： A total of 60 rats with similar behavior and body weight were randomly divided into blank control group （distilled water）， model group （distilled water）， fluoxetine positive control group （2.10 mg/kg） and Wenyang jieyu granules low-dose， medium-dose and high-dose groups （1.89， 3.78， 7.56 g/kg）， with 10 rats in each group. They were given relevant medicine intragastrically， once a day， for consecutive 28 d. Except for blank control group， other groups were given chronic unpredictable mild stress combined with feeding alone to establish depression model. On the 0， 7th， 14th， 21st and 28th day of administration， the changes of body weight were measured. The sucrose reference test and open-field test were adopted to determined the rate of sucrose reference， total distance and four corner distance within 4 min. 1 h after last administration， forced swimming test was used to measure struggling time and floating time within 4 min. The contents of 5-hydroxytryptamine （5-HT） and dopamine （DA） in serum were determined by HPLC. RESULTS： Compared with blank control group， body weight （7th， 14th， 21st and 28th day of administration） and the rate of sucrose reference （14th， 21st and 28th day of administration） were decreased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）； total distance and four corner distance within 4 min （21st and 28th day of administration） were decreased significantly； struggling time within 4 min was shortened significantly and floating time within 4 min was prolonged significantly （P＜0.01）； serum contents of 5-HT and DA were decreased significantly （P＜0.01）. Compared with model group， body weight （28th day of administration in low-dose group， 21st and 28th day of administration in medium-dose group and high-dose group） and the rate of sucrose reference （28th day of administration） were increased significantly in Wenyang jieyu granules groups （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）； total distance and four corner distance within 4 min （21st and 28th day of administration） were increased significantly （P＜0.01）； struggling time within 4 min was prolonged significantly and floating time within 4 min was shortened significantly （P＜0.01）. Serum contents of 5-HT and DA were increased significantly （P＜0.05 or P＜0.01）. Compared with fluoxetine positive control group， there was no statistical significance in above indexes among Wenyang jieyu granules groups （P＞0.05）. CONCLUSIONS： Wenyang jieyu granule has obvious anti-depression effect on depression model rats， which is similar to fluoxetine， and its mechanism may be related to the down-regulation of serum contents of 5-HT and DA.