title: Effects of icariin on hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis action and cytokine levels in stressed Sprague-Dawley rats.
abstract: Icariin is one of the major active flavonoids constituents of Epimedium brevicornum MAXIM (Berberidaceae). Icariin and E. brevicornum have a wide range of pharmacological activities. Abnormality in the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis is considered to be a key neurobilogical factor in major depression, and cytokines have a close relationship with the activation of the HPA axis. In the present study, the aim was to determine whether icariin possesses an antidepressant-like activity, and to explore the effects of icariin on the HPA axis and cytokine levels in chronic mild stress (CMS) model of depression in Sprague-Dawley rats. Icariin significantly increased the sucrose intake of CMS-treated rats from week 3. It not only attenuated the CMS-induced increases in serum corticotropin-releasing factor (CRF) and cortisol levels, but also reversed the abnormal levels of serum interleukin-6 (IL-6) and tumor-necrosis-factor alpha (TNF-alpha) to the normal in the stressed rats. These results suggested that icariin possessed an antidepressant-like property that was at least in part mediated by neuroendocrine and immune systems.
authors.affiliation: State Key Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Biotechnology, Nanjing University, China.
authors.forename: Ying
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Wei-Yun
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: Xing
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Xia
authors.forename: Ling-Dong
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Kong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D005419:Flavonoids / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007030:Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D010913:Pituitary-Adrenal System / Q000187:drug effects*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D016207:Cytokines; D005419:Flavonoids; C056599:icariin