α-Cyperone ameliorates depression in mammary gland hyperplasia and chronic unpredictable mild stress rat by regulating hormone, inflammation, and oxidative stress

Identification of antidepressant constituents from Xiangfu-chuanxiong herbal medicine pair via spectrum-effect relationship analyses, molecular docking and corticosterone-induced PC12 cells

Herbal medicine pair, composed of two single herbs, is a relatively fixed minimum prescription unit in the traditional Chinese medicine's formula and has special significance in clinic. The combination of Xiangfu (the rhizoma of Cyperus rotundus L, XF) and Chuanxiong (the rhizoma of Ligusticum chuanxiong Hort, CX) has been recoded as an herbal medicine pair XF-CX in the Yuan Dynasty (1347 CE) of China and widely used in traditional Chinese medicine formula, including Chaihu Shugan San, which has been clinically used for treatment of depression. However, the optimal ratio of the XF-CX herbal medicine pair and its antidepressant constituents are still unclear. Herein, the antidepressive-like effects of XF-CX herbal medicine pairs with different ratios of XF and CX (2:1, 1:1, 1:2) were evaluated using behavioral despair animal models in mice, and then its potential antidepressant constituents were recognized by spectrum-effect relationship analyses. Finally, the potential antidepressant constituents of the XF-CX herbal medicine pair were validated by molecular docking with glucocorticoid receptor and corticosterone (CORT)-induced PC12 cell injury model. The results indicated that different ratios of XF-CX pairs had antidepressive-like effects, and the XF-CX (2:1) exhibited a more significant effect. Thirty-two potential antidepressant constituents in the XF-CX herbal medicine pair were screened out from the spectrum-effect relationship combined molecular docking analyses. Among them, senkyunolide A, cyperotundone, Z-ligustilide, and levistilide A were validated to have protective effects against CORT-induced injury in PC12 cells. Our findings not only obtained the optimal ratio of XF-CX in the herbal medicine pair for the treatment of depression but also its potential antidepressant constituents, which will benefit in elucidating the mechanism of action and promoting the application of the herbal medicine pair in the clinic.

The Effectiveness and Safety of Acupuncture for Mammary Hyperplasia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Objective

This study aims to systematically evaluate the effectiveness and safety of acupuncture in treating mammary hyperplasia.

Methods

A comprehensive search was conducted in various databases, including PubMed, Web of Science, Cochrane Library, Embase, SinoMed, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wanfang, and VIP Database, from their inception until July 2023. Only randomized controlled trials (RCTs) researching the use of acupuncture for mammary hyperplasia were included. Quality assessment and data analysis were performed using RevMan 5.3 software.

Results

Eight RCTs, comprising 573 patients, were included in this analysis. The meta-analysis revealed that in the acupuncture group, the experimental group was better than the control group in improving breast pain, breast lump extent, and the texture of breast lump (P=0.0007, I2=61%; P=0.02, I2=0%; P=0.0002, I2=0%). We found that both could be improved, but after statistical analysis, there was no significant advantage in the acupuncture group compared with the patent Chinese medicine group (p>0.05).

Conclusion

Acupuncture appears to be an effective and safe treatment for mammary hyperplasia, providing pain relief and reducing mass volume, texture, and extent. However, the insufficient quality of the available evidence indicates the need for further methodologically rigorous and convincingly designed studies to determine the efficacy and safety of acupuncture in the treatment of breast hyperplasia.

Testosterone synthesis was inhibited in the testis metabolomics of a depression mouse model

INTRODUCTION

Depression is a common emotional disorder. Previous studies have suggested that depression is associated with the central nervous system. Recent studies have suggested that reduced testosterone level is the core inducement of depression. Testis is the vital organ for the synthesis of testosterone. How does testis mediate depression is still unknown.

OBJECTIVES

We adopted a classical depression model of mouse caused through chronic mild stress (CMS). The metabolomics liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry was adopted to analyse the influence of CMS on testis metabolism. Then we confirmed the possible abnormal metabolism of the testis in depression mice by pathway analysis and molecular biological technique.

RESULTS

Compared with control mice, 16 differential metabolites were found in CMS mice by multivariate statistical analysis. In comparison with control mice, CMS mice showed higher levels for campesterol, ribitol, citric acid, platelet activating factor, guanosine, cytosine and xanthine and lower levels for docosahexaenoic acid, hippuric acid, creatine, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, progesterone, l-carnitine, acetyl carnitine and propionyl carnitine. The pathway analysis indicated that these differential metabolites are associated with steroid hormone synthesis, purine metabolism and phenylalanine metabolism. In addition, we also first discovered that testicular morphology in depression mice was damaged and steroid hormone synthetases (including steroidogenic acute regulatory protein and P450 cholesterol side chain cleavage) were inhibited.

CONCLUSION

These findings may be helpful to parse molecular mechanisms of pathophysiology of depression. It also pointed out the direction to search for potential therapy schedules for male depression and provide novel insights into exploring the pathogenesis of male depression.