Improvement of Stress-induced Behavior by Water Extract of Gastrodia elata Bl. on Brain Neuroplasticity Regulation in Chronic Social Defeat Stress Model

• Main Authors: Shao-Ting Chou, 周少鼎
• Other Authors: Lee-Yan Sheen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2017
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/04236006452126284643

碩士 === 國立臺灣大學 === 食品科技研究所 === 105 === Depression is a common mental disorder. World Health Organization estimated 350 million people suffering from depression. However, the current antidepressant therapy was ineffective and unsatisified due to side effects. Many studies have reported that using functional foods are potential to be an adjunctive strategy to improve clinical symptoms of depression. Gastrodia elata Blume, a traditional Chinese medicine has been commonly used to treat dizziness, convulsion, and epilepsy since ancient times. Previous studies showed that water extract of Gastrodia elata Blume (WGE) possess antidepressive effect by modulating neuroplasticity -related pathway in proteomics. The aim of this study was using chronic social defeat stress model to investigate the antidepressant effect of water extract of Gastrodia elata Blume and its mechanism of neuroplasticity regulation. C57BL/6 mice were supplemented with WGE for 14 days by oral administration, and then conducted social defeat stress for 10 days with WGE. Mice were evaluated the depressive behaviors by social interaction test, sucrose preference test and open field test. The results showed that oral administration WGE (500 mg/kg BW) improved weight stagnation, hyperphagia symptoms and polydipsia symptoms. Moreover, WGE attenuated stress-induced social avoidance behavior and corticosteroid hyperactivity. In addition, WGE not only increased brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression, but also promoted phosphorylation of cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) and Protein kinase B (AKT) in hippocampus. Collectively, these findings demonstrated that WGE attenuated depress-like behavior and increases hippocampus BDNF-related signaling pathway in social defeat stress-induced mice. Thus, WGE could be a potential therapeutic agent for antidepression treatment in humans in the near future.