Effect of tribulusterrestris saponins on behavior and neuroendo- crine in chronic mild stress depression rats

• Published in: 中医杂志：英文版 2013 (2), p.228-232
• Main Author: Zhe Wang Dongdong Zhang Shan Hui Yingjin Zhang Suiyu Hu
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 促肾上腺皮质激素释放因子; 大鼠; 应激; 慢性; 抑郁症; 皂甙; 神经内分泌; 行为
• ISSN: 0255-2922

OBJECTIVE： To observe the effect of tribulus terres- tris saponins （TTS） on behavior and neuroendo- crine of chronic mild stress （CMS） depression rats. METHODS：ThirtymaleSprague-Dawleyratswereran- domly allocated to six groups： vehicle group, CMS group, CMS ＋ fluoxetine group and CMS ＋ TTS of low-dosage （0.375 g/kg）, medium-dosage （0.75 g/kg） and high-dosage （2.25 g/kg） groups. All rats except the vehicle group singly housed and exposed an unpredicted sequence of mild stressors. The behav- ior of rats was detected by open-field test （OFT） and sucrose preference test （SPT）. The concentra- tion of corticotropin-releasing factor （CRF） and ad- renocorticotropic hormone （ACTH） in serum of the rats were detected by radioimmunoassay. The con- centration of cortisol （CORT） in serum was detected by enzyme immunoassay.RESULTS： CMS procedure not only significantly de- creased the scores of crossing, rears and grooming in OFI： and the sucrose preference in SPT （all P〈 0.01）, but also markedly increased serum CRH and CORT levels （both P〈0.05）. Treatment with TTS （0.75 and 2.25 g/kg） could significantly prevent all of these abnormalities induced by CMS （P〈0.05, P〈 0.01）. CONCLUSION： CMS can affect rat behavior and neuroendocrine and cause depression. TTS has the antagonism on CMS and produce antidepressive ef- fects.