Antidepressant-like effects of salvianolic acid B in the mouse forced swim and tail suspension tests.
OBJECTIVE
Salvianolic acid B (SalB), one of the most abundant and bioactive compounds extracted from Salvia miltiorrhiza (Danshen), shows neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities in vivo and in vitro. This research was intended to investigate the antidepressant effect of SalB by forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST).


METHODS
SalB was extracted from S. miltiorrhiza roots and followed by HPLC analysis. Thirty five male C57BL/6 mice were divided into five groups: three SalB groups of different doses, one imipramine group, and one control group. The SalB groups received intraperitoneally (i.p.) 5mg/kg SalB, 10mg/kg SalB, and 20mg/kg SalB respectively. At the same time, the imipramine group received 20mg/kg imipramine, and the control group saline only. The behavioral tests including FST, TST and locomotor activity test were done after administration of drugs for consecutively three times, at 24, 1, and 0.5h before the tests.


RESULTS
SalB, from S. miltiorrhiza with purity of 95%, significantly reduced the immobility time in both the FST and TST tests (doses at 5, 10, 20mg/kg, i.p.), without changing locomotion in spontaneous motor activity.


CONCLUSIONS
This data suggests that besides neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory activities, SalB has promising therapeutic potential in treatment of depressive disorders.
Key Laboratory for NeuroInformation of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu 610054, China.
Yi
Y
Feng
Zili
Z
You
Shuo
S
Yan
Gang
G
He
Yubo
Y
Chen
Xiaojun
X
Gou
Cheng
C
Peng
D000818:Animals; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001572:Benzofurans / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000523:psychology; D019417:Hindlimb Suspension / Q000523:psychology; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use; D018517:Plant Roots; D013550:Swimming / Q000523:psychology; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D053630:Depsides
D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D001572:Benzofurans; D010936:Plant Extracts; C076944:salvianolic acid B; D053630:Depsides