Quercetin mitigates anxiety-like behavior and normalizes hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal axis function in a mouse model of mild traumatic brain injury

Abstract

Mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI) is a major public health risk for developing anxiety-related disorders and hypothalamus–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis dysregulation in humans. Extensive research has shown that dietary intake or supplementation of the natural flavonoid quercetin might be useful for treating anxiety-related symptoms. The objectives of this study were to determine whether quercetin treatment can attenuate anxiogenic-like behaviors and normalize HPA axis function in mice with mTBI. Animals subjected to mTBI were treated daily with quercetin (50 mg/kg) or diazepam (positive control, 3 mg/kg) for 14 days. Four behavioral tests (open field, plus maze, light-dark box, and zero maze) were used to assess anxiety-related behaviors in mice. To evaluate HPA axis function, adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone were measured in the serum of mice after the anxiety tests. Quercetin treatment was found to significantly reduce anxiety-like behaviors in mTBI-induced mice. A strength of this study is the consistency of results among anxiety tests. The dysregulation of the HPA axis in mTBI-induced mice treated with quercetin was also attenuated, with decreased levels of adrenocorticotropic hormone and corticosterone. The effects of quercetin were comparable with those of diazepam treatment. Taken together, these results suggest that quercetin might be useful for treating anxiety-related symptoms and HPA axis hyperreactivity in patients with mTBI.

Neuroprotective and Antioxidant Enhancing Properties of Selective Equisetum Extracts

“…Quercetin inhibited anxiety-like symptoms and neuroinflammation induced by lipopolysaccharide in rats as stated by Lee et al [39]. Quercetin mitigated anxiety-like behavior and normalized hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenal axis function in a mouse model of mild traumatic brain injury as reported by Kosari-Nasab et al [40]. Furthermore, quercetin protected against stress-induced anxiety-and depression-like behavior and improved memory in male mice as shown by Samad et al [41].…”

Therapeutic Potential of Quercetin as an Antiatherosclerotic Agent in Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease: A Review

“…Qu has a long history of cardioprotective ability, and it has been extended for clinical trials. In addition to its wellknown heart-protecting effects, Qu has also been reported to exert various other pharmacological activities such as anxiolytic [30], hypoglycemic [31], immunomodulatory [32], neuromodulation [33], and wound healing [34]. However, poor water solubility and low bioavailability of Qu have been its limitations.…”

Study on the Antianxiety Mechanism of Suanzaoren Decoction Based on Network Pharmacology and Molecular Docking

“…Quercetin exhibited the highest degree of interactions with multiple protein targets. Previous studies showed that quercetin can mitigate anxiety behavior in elevated plus maze and Morris water maze tests [14] and adriamycin-induced anxiety-like rat [15] by the normalization of HPA axis function [16] and regulate the GABAergic nervous system [17]. Glabridin is one of the main flavonoid compounds obtained from Glycyrrhiza glabra and exhibits antianxiety biological activity and acts as a potential GABAA receptor [18].…”