Effect of Hesperidin on Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress-Related Depression in Rats through Gut-Brain Axis Pathway

• Published in: Chinese journal of integrative medicine 2024-08
• Main Authors: Liang, Hui-Qing, Chen, Shao-Dong, Wang, Yu-Jie, Zheng, Xiao-Ting, Liu, Yao-Yu, Guo, Zhen-Ying, Zhang, Chun-Fang, Zhuang, Hong-Li, Cheng, Si-Jie, Gu, Xiao-Hong
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• ISSN: 1672-0415; 1993-0402; 1993-0402
• DOI: 10.1007/s11655-024-3802-9

To determine the pharmacological impact of hesperidin, the main component of Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium, on depressive behavior and elucidate the mechanism by which hesperidin treats depression, focusing on the gut-brain axis. Fifty-four Sprague Dawley male rats were randomly allocated to 6 groups using a random number table, including control, model, hesperidin, probiotics, fluoxetine, and Citri Reticulatae Pericarpium groups. Except for the control group, rats in the remaining 5 groups were challenged with chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) for 21 days and housed in single cages. The sucrose preference test (SPT), immobility time in the forced swim test (FST), and number in the open field test (OFT) were performed to measure the behavioral changes in the rats. Enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was used to determine the levels of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in brain tissue, and the histopathology was performed to evaluate the changes of colon tissue, together with sequencing of the V3-V4 regions of 16S rRNA gene on feces to explore the changes of intestinal flora in the rats. Compared to the control group, the rats in the model group showed notable reductions in body weight, SPF, and number in OFT (P