title: Antidepressant-like effects and memory enhancement of a herbal formula in mice exposed to chronic mild stress.
abstract: Shen Yuan Gan (SYG) is a Chinese herbal prescription composed of total saponins of Panax ginseng and total oligosaccharide esters of Polygala tenuifolia (2:1). Our previous studies have demonstrated that SYG has antidepressant-like effects in various mouse models of behavioral depression. The present study aimed to test whether SYG affected chronic mild stress (CMS)-induced depression and cognitive impairment in mice. We found that a 5-week CMS schedule induced significant degradation of the coat state, decreased sucrose intake in the sucrose-preference test, and increased the latency to feed in the noveltysuppressed feeding test. All of these CMS-induced changes were ameliorated by SYG (100 and 200 mg/kg) and fluoxetine (10 mg/kg). In addition, SYG restored the decreased monoamine neurotransmitter concentrations (serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine and acetylcholine) induced by CMS in the prefrontal cortex. Interestingly, SYG ameliorated CMS-induced cognitive impairment in the step-through test, and increased the acetylcholine level in the prefrontal cortex. These results suggest that SYG has an antidepressant-like action and enhances cognition by modulating the serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, and acetylcholine levels in the prefrontal cortex.
authors.affiliation: Research Center of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Institute of Medicinal Plant Development, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, 100193, China.
authors.forename: Xiu-Ping
authors.initials: XP
authors.lastname: Sun
authors.forename: Si-Di
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Zhe
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shi
authors.forename: Teng-Fei
authors.initials: TF
authors.lastname: Li
authors.forename: Rui-Le
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.forename: Qi
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: Chuan
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Qin
authors.forename: Xin-Min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D005894:Panax; D031801:Polygala; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; C000589612:shenyuan gan