• Li-Tao Yi, Jing Li, Huo-Chen Li, Ying Zhou, Bi-Fang Su, Ke-Feng Yang, Meng Jiang, and Yan-Ting Zhang.
• Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen, Fujian province, PR China. litao.yi@yahoo.com
• J Ethnopharmacol. 2012 Nov 21;144(2):328-34.

Ethnopharmacological RelevanceHemerocallis citrina, a traditional herbal medicine, has been used for the improvement of behavioral and emotional status in Eastern-Asia countries.Aim Of The StudyOur previous studies have demonstrated that the ethanol extracts of H. citrina flowers (HCE) reversed the behavioral alterations and monoamine neurotransmitter dysfunctions in stressed mice. However, the relation of its antidepressant-like action with neurotrophic molecular expressions remains unknown.Materials And MethodsTo clarify this, we explored the effect of HCE (32.5, 65, 130mg/kg, p.o.) on the behavior, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor (TrkB) in depression-like rats induced by exogenous administration of the stress hormone corticosterone (40mg/kg, s.c.).ResultsIt was observed that repeated administration of corticosterone induced an elevation on the serum corticosterone levels, which caused the abnormalities observed in the sucrose preference test and forced swimming test (FST). Administration of HCE (65 and 130mg/kg) reversed the changes above and up-regulated the BDNF and TrkB receptor protein expressions in the brain region of frontal cortex and hippocampus.ConclusionThese findings confirm that HCE produce an antidepressant-like effect in corticosterone-induced depression-like model of rats and this effect is at least partly mediated by BDNF-TrkB signaling in the frontal cortex and hippocampus.Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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