Potential antidepressant effects of a dietary supplement from Huáng qí and its complex in aged senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8 mice

Ming-Yu Chou; Yue-Ching Wong; Shih-Yi Wang; Ching-Hsin Chi; Teng-Hsu Wang; Mao-Jung Huang; Ping-Hsiu Huang; Po-Hsien Li; Ming-Fu Wang

doi:10.3389/fnut.2023.1235780

Potential antidepressant effects of a dietary supplement from Huáng qí and its complex in aged senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8 mice

Front Nutr. 2023 Jul 28:10:1235780. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2023.1235780. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Ming-Yu Chou^{1

2}, Yue-Ching Wong³, Shih-Yi Wang², Ching-Hsin Chi², Teng-Hsu Wang⁴, Mao-Jung Huang⁵, Ping-Hsiu Huang⁶, Po-Hsien Li⁷, Ming-Fu Wang^{2

7}

Affiliations

¹ School of Business, Qanzhou Vocational and Technical University, Jinjiang, China.
² International Aging Industry Research & Development Center (AIC), Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
³ Department of Nutrition, Chung Shan Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
⁴ PhytoHealth Corporation, Taipei city, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
⁵ School of General Education, Hsiuping University of Science and Technology, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.).
⁶ School of Food, Jiangsu Food and Pharmaceutical Science College, Huai'an, China.
⁷ Department of Food and Nutrition, Providence University, Taichung, Taiwan (R.O.C.).

Abstract

Healthcare is an emerging industry with significant market potential in the 21st century. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the benefits of tube feeding Huáng qí and its complexes for 8 weeks on 3-month-old senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8 (SAMP8) mice, 48 in total, randomly divided into 3 groups including control, Huáng qí extract [820 mg/kg Body weight (BW)/day], and Huáng qí complexes (6.2 mL /kg BW/day), where each group consisted of males (n = 8) and females (n = 8). Behavioral tests (locomotion test and aging score assessment on week 6, the single-trial passive avoidance test on week 7, and the active shuttle avoidance test on week 8) were conducted to evaluate the ability of the mice to learn and remember. In addition, after sacrificing the animals, the blood and organs were measured for antioxidant and aging bioactivities, including malondialdehyde (MDA) content and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and catalase activities (CAT), and the effects on promoting aging in SAMP8 mice were investigated. The findings showed that Huáng qí enhanced locomotor performance and had anti-aging effects, with positive effects on health, learning, and memory in SAMP-8 mice (p < 0.05), whether applied as a single agent (820 mg/kg BW/day) or as a complex (6.2 mL/kg BW/day) (p < 0.05). Based on existing strengths, a more compelling platform for clinical validation of human clinical evidence will be established to enhance the development and value-added of astragalus-related products while meeting the diversified needs of the functional food market.

Keywords: Huáng qí; anti-aging; anti-depressant; functional food; senescence-accelerated mouse prone-8.