title: Effects of curcumin on chronic, unpredictable, mild, stress-induced depressive-like behaviour and structural plasticity in the lateral amygdala of rats.
abstract: Depression is a neuropsychiatric disease associated with wide ranging disruptions in neuronal plasticity throughout the brain. Curcumin, a natural polyphenolic compound of curcuma loga, has been demonstrated to be effective in the treatment of depressive-like disorders. The present study aimed to investigate the mechanisms underlying the antidepressant-like effects of curcumin in a rat model of chronic, unpredictable, mild, stress (CUMS) -induced depression. The results showed that CUMS produced depressive-like behaviours in rats, which were associated with ultra-structural changes in neurons within the lateral amygdala (LA). In addition, the expression of synapse-associated proteins such as brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), PSD-95 and synaptophysin were significantly decreased in the LA of CUMS-treated rats. Chronic administration of curcumin (40 mg/kg, i.p. 6 wk) before stress exposure significantly prevented these neuronal and biochemical alterations induced by CUMS, and suppressed depressive-like behaviours, suggesting that this neuronal dysregulation may be related to the depressive-like behaviours caused by CUMS. Together with our previous results, the current findings demonstrate that curcumin exhibits neuroprotection and antidepressant-like effects in the CUMS-induced depression model. Furthermore, this antidepressant-like action of curcumin appears to be mediated by modulating synapse-associated proteins within the LA. These findings provide new insights into the underlying mechanisms leading to neural dysfunction in depression and reveal the therapeutic potential for curcumin use in clinical trials.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Shandong University, School of Medicine, Wenhuaxilu Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250012, PR, China.
authors.forename: Lin
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Shandong University, School of Medicine, Wenhuaxilu Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250012, PR, China.
authors.forename: Junxia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Luo
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Shandong University, School of Medicine, Wenhuaxilu Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250012, PR, China.
authors.forename: Minghua
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Shandong University, School of Medicine, Wenhuaxilu Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250012, PR, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Yao
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Shandong University, School of Medicine, Wenhuaxilu Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250012, PR, China.
authors.forename: Xuelian
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Shandong University, School of Medicine, Wenhuaxilu Road, Jinan, Shandong Province, 250012, PR, China.
authors.forename: Shu Yan
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000679:Amygdala / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000503:physiopathology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D000818:Animals; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism; D002908:Chronic Disease; D003474:Curcumin / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003866:Depressive Disorder / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D000076122:Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein; D004326:Drinking / Q000187:drug effects; D005106:Exploratory Behavior / Q000187:drug effects; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D009042:Motivation / Q000187:drug effects; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000187:drug effects; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000187:drug effects*; D009474:Neurons / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology / Q000648:ultrastructure; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000150:complications*; D016708:Synaptophysin / Q000378:metabolism; D035501:Uncertainty
chemical_list: D000928:Antidepressive Agents; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D019422:Dietary Sucrose; D000076122:Disks Large Homolog 4 Protein; C501449:Dlg4 protein, rat; D047908:Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D016708:Synaptophysin; C569016:Syp protein, rat; D003474:Curcumin