title: Effects of Kaixin Jieyu Decoction () on behavior, monoamine neurotransmitter levels, and serotonin receptor subtype expression in the brain of a rat depression model.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the mechanisms underlying the anti-depressant effects of Kaixin Jieyu Decoction (, KJD) by investigating the effects of KJD on behavior, monoamine neurotransmitter levels, and serotonin (5-HT) receptor subtype expression in the brain in a rat model of depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  The rat depression model was established using chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS). Forty-eight Sprague Dawley rats were randomly divided into control, depression model (CUMS), CUMS+KJD (7.7 g/kg(-1)·d(-1) of crude drug), and CUMS+fluoxetine (2.4 mg/kg(-1)·d(-1)) groups (n=12 in each group), and the treatments lasted for 21 days. We regularly evaluated body weight, sucrose consumption, and horizontal and vertical activity scores in open-field tests. The content of the monoamine neurotransmitters 5-HT, norepinephrine (NE), and dopamine (DA) and the DA metabolite homovanillic acid in the cerebral cortex, and 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptor mRNA in the cerebral cortex and the hippocampus, were determined respectively by high-performance liquid chromatography-coularray electrochemical detector and real-time polymerase chain reaction.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with the control group, CUMS rats showed a variety of depression-like behavioral changes, including a significant reduction in body weight, sucrose consumption, and horizontal and vertical activity scores in open-field tests (P<0.05 or P<0.01), and a significant decrease in 5-HT and NE levels and 5-HT2A receptor mRNA expression. In contrast, they showed a significant increase in 5-HT1A receptor mRNA expression in the cerebral cortex. In the hippocampus, 5-HT1A receptor mRNA expression was lower whereas 5-HT2A receptor mRNA expression was higher than in the control group (P<0.05 or P<0.01). Treatment with KJD or fluoxetine partially attenuated these changes (P<0.05 or P<0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  KJD could normalize the levels of 5-HT and NE and adjust the balance of 5-HT1A and 5-HT2A receptor expression in rat cerebrum, and this may be one of mechanisms of antidepressant effects of KJD.
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China. gamhsj@126.com.
authors.forename: Shi-jing
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China.
authors.forename: Xian-hui
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China.
authors.forename: Yan-yun
authors.initials: YY
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China.
authors.forename: Ju-hua
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Pan
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China.
authors.forename: Han-ming
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: Cui
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China.
authors.forename: Su-ping
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wu
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China.
authors.forename: Jun
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zheng
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China.
authors.forename: Duo-jiao
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Li
authors.affiliation: Traditional Chinese Medicine Research and Development Center, Guang'anmen Hospital, China Academy of Chinese Medical Sciences, Beijing, 100053, China.
authors.forename: Ge
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Bai
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D015306:Biogenic Monoamines / Q000378:metabolism*; D003863:Depression / Q000378:metabolism*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D015306:Biogenic Monoamines; D004365:Drugs, Chinese Herbal; D011985:Receptors, Serotonin; C000603459:kaixin jieyu
keywords: Kaixin Jieyu Decoction; behavior; depression; monoamines neurotransmitter; serotonin1A and serotonin2A receptor mRNA