This study evaluated the antidepressant-like effect of lipid extract of C. striatus in chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model of depression in male rats and its mechanism of action. The animals were subjected to CUMS for six weeks by using variety of stressors. At the end of CUMS protocol, animals were subjected to forced swimming test (FST) and open field test followed by biochemical assay. The CUMS protocol produced depressive-like behavior in rats by decreasing the body weight, decreasing the sucrose preference, and increasing the duration of immobility in FST. The CUMS protocol increased plasma corticosterone and decreased hippocampal and prefrontal cortex levels of monoamines (serotonin, noradrenaline, and dopamine) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor. Further, the CUMS protocol increased interleukin-6 (in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex) and nuclear factor-kappa B (in prefrontal cortex but not in hippocampus). The lipid extract of C. striatus (125, 250, and 500 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.05) reversed all the above parameters in rats subjected to CUMS, thus exhibiting antidepressant-like effect. The mechanism was found to be mediated through decrease in plasma corticosterone, increase in serotonin levels in prefrontal cortex, increase in dopamine and noradrenaline levels in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, increase in BDNF in hippocampus and prefrontal cortex, and decrease in IL-6 and NF-κB in prefrontal cortex.

Postpartum depression affects 15% of women. Channa striatus, a freshwater fish, is consumed in local Malay population as a rejuvenating diet during postpartum period. This study evaluated the antidepressant-like effect of lipid extract of C. striatus fillet and its mechanism of action in female Sprague-Dawley rats in postpartum model of depression. The rats were ovariectomized and treated with high dose of progesterone and estradiol benzoate for 23 days to have hormone-simulated pregnancy. The day 24 and afterwards were considered as the postpartum period. During the postpartum period, lipid extract was administered at 125, 250, and 500 mg/kg through intraperitoneal route for 15 days. Fluoxetine (10 mg/kg) was used as the positive control. On postpartum day 15, the animals were tested in forced swimming test (FST) and open field test (OFT) followed by biochemical analysis. Withdrawal of hormone administration during the postpartum period induced depressive-like behavior in FST. Administration of lipid extract reversed that depressive-like behavior at 125, 250, and 500 mg/kg in FST. In OFT, it decreased the exploratory activity. The mechanism of the antidepressant-like effect may be mediated through the decrease in plasma corticosterone, increase in plasma oxytocin, and decrease in nuclear factor-kappa B in prefrontal cortex of rats.

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