title: Chinese medicine Banxia-houpu decoction regulates c-fos expression in the brain regions in chronic mild stress model in rats.
abstract: Banxia-houpu decoction is a safe and effective traditional Chinese medicinal formula used in the treatment of mild and manic-depressive disorders for centuries. There has been increasing interest in its therapeutic application in depression. However, the mechanisms behind behavioural changes are still poorly understood. Chronic mild stress (CMS)-induced preference behaviour change has been used as a model to predict the clinical efficacy of many types of antidepressant treatment. Both EtOH and water extracts (AE and WE) of Banxia-houpu decoction exhibited a significantly increased sucrose intake in the CMS model in rats, but there was no effect in unstressed animals. In the present study, it was found that the c-fos expression in cerebral cortex, hippocampus and striatum corpora were very high in the CMS model in rats. WE and AE at a dose of 130 mg/kg exhibited a significantly decreased c-fos expression in the cerebral regions in CMS model in rats, respectively. The former was more potent than the latter. However, no significant changes in the c-fos expression were observed in unstressed rats treated with the decoction. Fluoxetine not only significantly reduced c-fos expression in all regions in the CMS model in rats, but only showed a marked decrease in c-fos expression in the hippocampus in unstressed animals. A different molecular mechanism of Banxia-houpu decoction and fluoxetine may be implied. The cerebral cortex, hippocampus and striatum conpora might be important structural substrates in the central nervous system mediating the section of the Banxia-houpu decoction on preference behaviour in CMS-induced rats, and fos protein might be the common substrate of the signal transduction process of the decoction.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Functional Biomolecule, State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, School of Life Sciences, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Weiyun
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Jianmei
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Jixiao
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.forename: Zhenqiu
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Yong
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: Lingdong
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008297:Male; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D010946:Plants, Medicinal; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000378:metabolism; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D040921:Stress Disorders, Traumatic / Q000517:prevention & control*
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; C120141:Banxia Houpo Tang; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D010936:Plant Extracts; D016760:Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos