He Z, Yu H, Wu H, Su L, Shi K, Zhao Y, Zong Y, Chen W, Du R. Antidepressant effects of total alkaloids of
Fibraurea recisa on improving corticosterone-induced apoptosis of HT-22 cells and chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depressive-like behaviour in mice.
PHARMACEUTICAL BIOLOGY 2022;
60:1436-1448. [PMID:
35938494 PMCID:
PMC9361772 DOI:
10.1080/13880209.2022.2099429]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2021] [Revised: 06/28/2022] [Accepted: 07/04/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
CONTEXT
Fibraurea recisa Pierre. (Menispermaceae) (FR) is a traditional Chinese medicine known as "Huangteng." The total alkaloids of FR (AFR) are the main active ingredients. However, the pharmacological effects of AFR in the treatment of depression have not been reported.
OBJECTIVES
This study investigates the antidepressant effects of AFR by network pharmacology and verification experiments.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Compound-Target-Pathway (C-P-T) network of FR and depression was constructed through network pharmacology. In vitro, HT-22 cells were treated with corticosterone (CORT) solution (0.35 mg/mL), then AFR (0.05 mg/mL) solution and inhibitor AZD6244 (14 μM/mL) or BAY11-7082 (10 μM/mL) were added, respectively. The cell viability was detected by CCK-8. In vivo, C57BL/6 mice were divided into 5 groups, namely the normal group, the CUMS group, the AFR (400 mg/kg) group, and the 2 groups that were simultaneously administered the inhibitory group AZD6244 (8 mg/kg) and BAY11-7082 (5 mg/kg). Western blotting was used to assess the expression level of the proteins.
RESULTS
AFR could protect HT-22 cells from CORT-induced damage and increase the cell viability from 49.12 ± 3.4% to 87.26 ± 1.5%. Moreover, AFR significantly increased the levels of BDNF (1.3, 1.4-fold), p-ERK (1.4, 1.2-fold) and p-CERB (1.6, 1.3-fold), and decreased the levels of NLRP3 (11.3%, 31.6%), ASC (19.2%, 34.2%) and caspase-1 (18.0%, 27.6%) in HT-22 cells and the hippocampus, respectively.
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS
AFR can improve depressive-like behaviours and can develop drugs for depression treatment. Further studies are needed to validate its potential in clinical medicine.
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