Antidepressant Active Components of Bupleurum chinense DC-Paeonia lactiflora Pall Herb Pair: Pharmacological Mechanisms

Table 4

Active compounds in Bupleurum chinense DC-Paeonia lactiflora Pall herb pair promote hippocampal neurogenesis and regulate BDNF levels.

Compound	Model	Animal species	Dosage	Behaviour involved	Mechanism of action/; Main indicators	References
Saikosaponin A	MCAO+CUMS+isolation	Male SD rat	5 mg/kg	SPT, OFT, BWT, FST	Weight↑, hippocampus BDNF, P-CREB↑, inhibiting neuronal apoptosis, hippocampus Bax, caspase-3↓,	[68]
Saikosaponin D	LPS	Male ICR mice	0.5, 1 mg/kg	TST, OFT	Proinflammatory cytokines↓, inhibiting the activity of LPA1/RhoA/ROCK2 signaling pathway, relieving apoptosis of hippocampal neurons	[73]
Rutin	CUMS	Adult Swiss albino mice	100 mg/kg	OFT, SPT, EPM, NOR, BWT	Relieving hippocampal damage in CA3 area	[74]
Quercetin	ERα receptor knockout	Female C57bl/6 and ERα-KO mice	100 mg/kg	OFT, TST, FST	Number of hippocampal neurons↑, relieve hippocampal cell apoptosis, Hippocampus BDNF,P-TrKB,P-AKT,P-ERK1/2↑	[76]
	DMH	Male Wistar rat	50 mg/kg	OFT, FST	Proinflammatory cytokines↓, BDNF↑, number of neurons↑, TrKB↑, β-catenin↑, incidence of rectal cancer↓,	[78]
Ferulic acid	CUMS	Male ICR mice	20, 40 mg/kg	SPT, FST	PFC and hippocampus BDNF, Synapsin I↑, hippocampus PSD95↑	[79]
Paeoniflorin	MCAO+CUMS	Male SD rat	5 mg/kg	BBT, SPT, OFT	Weight↑, hippocampus CA1 area BDNF, P-CREB↑	[80]
	CUMS	Male SD rat	30, 60 mg/kg	SPT, FST, LAT	Number of neurons in hippocampal CA3 area↑, upregulate the ERK-CREB signaling pathway	[81]
	CUMS	C57BL/6; Wild-type male mice	20 mg/kg	SPT, FST, TST	Relieve hippocampal CA1 LTP damage, hippocampus dendritic spine density, BDNF, PSD95↑	[82]
	CUMS	Male SD rats	60 mg/kg	SPT	Promote neurogenesis in the hippocampus dentate gyrus	[84]

Note: CUMS: chronic unpredictable mild stress; MCAO: middle cerebral artery occlusion; SPT: sucrose preference test; OFT: open field test; FST: forced swimming test; BWT: Beam walking test; BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor; CREB: cAMP response element-binding protein; LPS: lipopolysaccharide; LPA-1: specific cell surface G protein–coupled receptors; ROCK: Rho-kinase; NOR: Novel object recognition test; TST: tail suspension test; TrKB: tyrosine kinase B; AKT:serine/threonine protein kinase; ERK: extracellular regulatory protein kinase; ERα: Estrogen receptor alpha; DMH: 1,2-dimethylhydrazine; BBT: Beam balance test; LAT: Locomotor Activity Test; LTP: long-term potentiation.