Alpha-Asarone, a Major Component ofAcorus gramineus, Attenuates Corticosterone-Induced Anxiety-Like Behaviours via Modulating TrkB Signaling Process

Abstract

We investigated the anxiolytic-like activity of α-asarone (AAS) from Acorus gramineus in an experimental rat model of anxiety induced by repeated administration of the exogenous stress hormone corticosterone (CORT). The putative anxiolytic effect of AAS was studied in behavioral tests of anxiety, such as the elevated plus maze (EPM) test and the hole-board test (HBT) in rats. For 21 consecutive days, male rats received 50, 100, or 200 mg/kg AAS (i.p.) 30 min prior to a daily injection of CORT. Dysregulation of the HPA axis in response to the repeated CORT injections was confirmed by measuring serum levels of CORT and the expression of corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF) in the hypothalamus. Daily AAS (200 mg/kg) administration increased open-arm exploration significantly in the EPM test, and it increased the duration of head dipping activity in the HBT. It also blocked the increase in tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) expression in the locus coeruleus (LC) and decreased mRNA expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and its receptor, TrkB, in the hippocampus. These results indicated that the administration of AAS prior to high-dose exogenous CORT significantly improved anxiety-like behaviors, which are associated with modification of the central noradrenergic system and with BDNF function in rats. The current finding may improve understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms responsible for changes in emotions induced by repeated administration of high doses of CORT or by elevated levels of hormones associated with chronic stress. Thus, AAS did exhibit an anxiolytic-like effects in animal models of anxiety.

β-Asarone Mitigates Amyloidosis and Downregulates RAGE in a Transgenic Mouse Model of Alzheimer’s Disease

“…Pharmacological studies have proved that aasarone has effect on central nervous inhibitory, and was applied in epilepsy, asthma, and depression treatment (Lee et al 2014;Lu et al 2014;Huang et al 2013;Su et al 2014). However, the neuroprotective effects of b-asarone were highly suggested in recent studies, especially in AD investigation (Zou et al 2011;Liu et al 2010;Geng et al 2010;Wei et al 2013).…”

Pretreatment with Resveratrol Prevents Neuronal Injury and Cognitive Deficits Induced by Perinatal Hypoxia-Ischemia in Rats

“…Anxiety-like behaviors observed in rats that underwent hypoxia-ischemia [ 69 , 70 ] were prevented by resveratrol. Head-dipping behavior in the HBT is considered to be a good index for evaluating the anxiety of rodents [ 71 ]. Impairments in reference and working memory evaluated in the T-maze performance were demonstrated after neonatal hypoxia-ischemia, as previously reported [, 68 , 72 – 77 ].…”

Decreased Interleukin-4 Release from the Neurons of the Locus Coeruleus in Response to Immobilization Stress

“…Previous work has shown that restraint stress-submitted groups were more anxious than nontreated groups [ 35 – 37 ] and increment of corticosterone had an anxiolytic-like effect in animal model [ 38 ]. Central and peripheral IL-4 concentration had an effect of suppressing LPS-induced sickness behavior [ 39 , 40 ] and IL-4 −/− mice exhibited more anxious behavior compared to wild type [ 41 ].…”