Δ3,2-Hydroxybakuchiol Attenuates Depression in Multiple Rodent Models Possibly by Inhibition of Monoamine Transporters in Brain

Gang Zhao; Li-He Guo; Wei Huang; Jia-Liang Hu

doi:10.1155/2018/1325141

Δ³,2-Hydroxybakuchiol Attenuates Depression in Multiple Rodent Models Possibly by Inhibition of Monoamine Transporters in Brain

Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2018 Jun 20:2018:1325141. doi: 10.1155/2018/1325141. eCollection 2018.

Authors

Gang Zhao^{1

2}, Li-He Guo³, Wei Huang^{1

2}, Jia-Liang Hu⁴

Affiliations

¹ Internal Division of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Dahua Hospital, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200237, China.
² Teaching Hospital of Jiangsu University, Xuhui District, Shanghai 200237, China.
³ Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
⁴ Engineering Research Center of Modern Preparation Technology of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Ministry of Education, Shanghai University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Shanghai 201203, China.

Abstract

Δ³,2-Hydroxybakuchiol is isolated from Psoralea corylifolia (L.), which has therapeutic applications in traditional Chinese medicine. Our previous studies have showed that Δ³,2-hydroxybakuchiol inhibited the decreased activity of reserpinized mice, suggestive of its antidepressive potential. In this study, we explored the antidepressant profile of Δ³,2-hydroxybakuchiol in various rodent models and its possible monoamine-modulating mechanism. Δ³,2-Hydroxybakuchiol significantly reduced immobility time of mice in forced swim test and tail suspension test. Δ³,2-Hydroxybakuchiol also significantly increased sucrose consumption in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) rat model. Furthermore, isotope uptake study showed that Δ³,2-hydroxybakuchiol inhibited the activity of human dopamine transporter (DAT) and norepinephrine transporter (NET) in transporter-overexpressing pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells with IC₅₀ values similar to the potency of bupropion. Microdialysis showed that Δ³,2-hydroxybakuchiol increased dopamine and norepinephrine concentration in rat striatum. In summary, Δ³,2-hydroxybakuchiol exerts antidepressant effects on various types of depression models through a possible mechanism of monoamine transporter inhibition.