Ganoderma Lucidum Ameliorated Depression-Like Behavior in an Unpredictable Chronic Mild Stress Rat Model Via Regulation of Monoamines

Abstract

Purpose This study investigated antidepressant-like effect of Gl-E on rats exposed to UCMS and elucidated its potential mechanism of antidepressant action of Gl-E by detecting the levels of monoamines and their metabolites in the rats’ brains. Methods Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to UCMS and treated with extract of G. lucidum (Gl-E) and fluoxetine (FLU) for 28 consecutive days. The sucrose preference test (SPT) and open field test (OFT) were applied to assess the antidepressant effects. The levels of monoamines including serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT), norepinephrine (NE) and dopamine (DA) and their metabolites in the brain of rats were measured by HPLC. Results The results revealed that 4 weeks of UCMS exposure induced significant depression-like behavior, with low 5-HT, NE and DA levels in the rats’ brains. The treatment of Gl-E (0.1 and 0.5 g/kg) or FLU significantly alleviated the behavior deficiency and body weight reduction in UCMS rats. In addition, the levels of 5-HT, NE and DA in the brain of UCMS rats were increased after the Gl-E treatment. Conclusion The present study demonstrated that Gl-E could ameliorate depression-like behaviors in UCMS rats. Monoamines played an important role in the antidepressant action of Gl-E.

A scoping review of the effects of mushroom and fungus extracts in rodent models of depression and tests of antidepressant activity

“…The species used in all of the animal models were limited to rats and mice: we did not find instances of other rodent species that have been utilized as antidepressant screens ( Kramer et al, 1998 ; Alo et al, 2019 ). Fourteen of the studies used rats ( Matsuzaki et al, 2013 ; Minami et al, 2013 ; Tan et al, 2016 ; Liu C. et al, 2017 ; Song et al, 2017 ; Wang et al, 2017 ; Huang et al, 2020 ; Nascimento et al, 2020 ; Lin et al, 2021a ; Zhang L. et al, 2021 ; Lin et al, 2021b ; Anuar et al, 2022 ; Cheng, 2023 ; Rakoczy et al, 2023 ), while the remaining 36 studies used mice to test for antidepressant-like effects ( Zhou et al, 2005 ; Nishizawa et al, 2007 ; Koo et al, 2008 ; Singh et al, 2014 ; Tianzhu et al, 2014 ; Socala et al, 2015 ; Yao et al, 2015 ; Gupta et al, 2016 ; Huang et al, 2016 ; Nakamichi et al, 2016 ; Song et al, 2016 ; Xu, 2016 ; Bao et al, 2017 ; Liu Y. et al, 2017 ; Lin et al, 2017 ; Chiu et al, 2018 ; Mahmoudi et al, 2018 ; Ryu et al, 2018 ; Jin et al, 2019 ; Li et al, 2019 ; Song et al, 2020 ; Li H. et al, 2021 ; Li TJ. et al, 2021 ; Zhang T. et al, 2021 ; Chong et al, 2021 ; Hossen et al, 2021 ; Park et al, 2021 ; Singh et al, 2021 ; Zhao et al, 2021 ; Chou et al, 2022 ; Mi et al, 2022 ; Xin et al, 2022 ; Yu et al, 2022 ; Ezurike et al, 2023 ; Zhao et al, 2023 ; Hernandez-Leon et al, 2024 ).…”

“…A variety of animal models of depression and antidepressant screens were used to examine mushroom and fungus antidepressant efficacy. By far the most common animal model used to induce a depressive-like phenotype in rodents was the unpredictable chronic mild stress paradigm (UCMS), with 14 studies implementing this model ( Zhou et al, 2005 ; Tianzhu et al, 2014 ; Tan et al, 2016 ; Liu C. et al, 2017 ; Song et al, 2017 ; Wang et al, 2017 ; Li et al, 2019 ; Huang et al, 2020 ; Lin et al, 2021a ; Zhang L. et al, 2021 ; Lin et al, 2021b ; Zhao et al, 2021 ; Xin et al, 2022 ; Cheng, 2023 ); rats were used in the majority (9) of these studies. The second most frequent model involved the use of chronic restraint stress, in four mouse studies ( Nakamichi et al, 2016 ; Chiu et al, 2018 ; Chong et al, 2021 ; Zhao et al, 2023 ).…”

“…Two studies used UCMS and reported 28-day treatment with doses of 100–500 mg/kg, p.o. exerted antidepressant-like effects in the SPT ( Cheng, 2023 ) and both the SPT and FST ( Zhao et al, 2021 ). A 5 mg/kg, i.p.…”