• Li-Tao Yi, Jing Li, Di Geng, Bin-Bin Liu, Ying Fu, Jia-Qi Tu, Yuan Liu, and Lian-Jin Weng.
• Department of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Engineering, College of Chemical Engineering, Huaqiao University, Xiamen 361021, Fujian province, PR China. litao.yi@yahoo.com
• J Ethnopharmacol. 2013 May 2;147(1):245-53.

Ethnopharmacological RelevancePerilla frutescens (Perilla leaf), a traditional Chinese medicinal herb, has been used for centuries to treat various conditions including depression. A previous study of the authors demonstrated that essential oil of Perilla frutescens (EOPF) attenuated the depressive-like behavior in mice.Aim Of The StudyThis study was undertaken to explore the dynamic change of behaviors and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) expression induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS), and improved by EOPF.Materials And MethodsFour separate CUMS experimental groups (1-week, 2-week, 3-week and 4-week treatment) were treated with EOPF (3 mg/kg and 6 mg/kg, p.o.) or fluoxetine (20 mg/kg, p.o.), followed by sucrose preference, locomotor activity, immobility and hippocampal BDNF measurement.ResultsEOPF, as well as fluoxetine, restored the CUMS-induced decreased sucrose preference and increased immobility time, without affecting body weight gain and locomotor activity. Furthermore, CUMS (3 or 4-week) produced a reduction in both BDNF mRNA and protein expression in the hippocampus, which were ameliorated by EOPF (4-week) and fluoxetine (3 or 4-week) treatment.ConclusionThese results presented here show that BDNF is expressed depending on length of CUMS procedure and EOPF administration. And this study might contribute to the underlying reason for the slow onset of antidepressant activity in clinic.Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

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