Antidepressant effect of Gan-Mai-Dazao-Tang and its ingredients
Date Issued
2008
Date
2008
Author(s)
Huang, Hsiang-Ling
Abstract
Depression is a kind of psychiatric disorders that affects more than 10% of the general population. The clinical treatments used nowadays always cause several side-effects such as losing body weight and reducing appetite. Therefore, we expect to look for the alternative treatment simultaneous with antidepressant effect and less side-effect. Gan-Mai-Dazao-Tang is a traditional decoction used to treat depression and anxiety. The ingredients of Gan-Mai-Dazao-Tang include Glycyrrhiza uralensis Fisch. (licorice), Triticum aestivum L. (wheat) and Zizyphus jujuba Mill. (jujube). It can nourish the heart, tranquilize the mind, invigorate the spleen and replenish qi (氣) in the traditional Chinese medicine. The objective of this study is to investigate the antidepressant effects of Gan-Mai-Dazao-Tang and its ingredients in rats on the forced-swim test (FST) – an animal model for predicting the clinical efficacy of antidepressants. Eight-week-old male Nerl: Wistar rats were randomized to C (10 mL/kg bw dd H2O), L (0.4 g/kg bw licorice extract), W (1.6 g/kg bw wheat extract), J (0.5 g/kg bw jujube extract), LWJ [2.5 g/kg bw of complex extract (licorice: wheat: jujube = 5:20:6)] and P (18 mg/kg bw Prozac) groups. Samples were administered by gavage for 21 days. After FST, the animals were sacrificed and their brains were collected for monoamines analysis. The results have shown that the body weight and the appetite of rats were significantly lowered in P group (p<0.05), while the other groups were not significantly different with each other. The immobility time in FST was significantly decreased in LWJ and P group compared with control (p<0.05), but the ingredients of Gan-Mai-Dazao-Tang showed no significantly antidepressant effect in FST. The concentration of serotonin (5-HT) in frontal cortex were significantly higher in LWJ and P group compared with control (p<0.05), although 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid in frontal cortex and amygdale were not significantly different between LWJ and the control group. However, administration of LWJ and P significantly increased the dopamine (DA) concentration (p<0.05) and decreased the concentration of 3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetic acid (DOPAC) (p<0.05) and DOPAC/DA turnover (p<0.05) in striatum compared to the control. The results indicate that Gan-Mai-Dazao-Tang may have the potential antidepressant effect and less side-effect in rats.
Subjects
Gan-Mai-Dazao-Tang
antidepressant effect
forced swim test
monoamines
monoamine metabolite
Type
thesis
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