Vanillin-induced amelioration of depression-like behaviors in rats by modulating monoamine neurotransmitters in the brain

Abstract

Olfaction plays an important role in emotions in our daily life. Pleasant odors are known to evoke positive emotions, inducing relaxation and calmness. The beneficial effects of vanillin on depressive model rats were investigated using a combination of behavioral assessments and neurotransmitter measurements. Before and after chronic stress condition (or olfactory bulbectomy), and at the end of vanillin or fluoxetine treatment, body weight, immobility time on the forced swimming test and sucrose consumption in the sucrose consumption test were measured. Changes in these assessments revealed the characteristic phenotypes of depression in rats. Neurotransmitters were measured using ultrahigh-performance liquid chromatography. Our results indicated that vanillin could alleviate depressive symptoms in the rat model of chronic depression via the olfactory pathway. Preliminary analysis of the monoamine neurotransmitters revealed that vanillin elevated both serotonin and dopamine levels in brain tissue. These results provide important mechanistic insights into the protective effect of vanillin against chronic depressive disorder via olfactory pathway. This suggests that vanillin may be a potential pharmacological agent for the treatment of major depressive disorder.

Studies on the interaction between vanillin and β-Amyloid protein via fluorescence spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy

“…Vanillin suppresses metastatic potential of human cancer cells via PI3K inhibition, decreases angiogenesis in vivo [26] and exhibits antibacterial and antimicrobial activities [27,28] . The latest research showed that vanillin elevated both serotonin and dopamine levels in brain tissue and could alleviate depressive symptoms in the rat model of chronic depression via the olfactory pathway [29] .…”

On the Effect of Aromatherapy with Citrus Fragrance in the Therapy of Major Depressive Disorder

“…This deficit was not fully balanced in the last decades, although some results with the rat experimental model of MDD suggest a possibly efficacy of aromatherapy in MDD. For instance, in a recent publication Xu et al [4] claim that "Our results indicated that vanillin could alleviate depressive symptoms in the rat model of chronic depression via the olfactory pathway. Preliminary analysis of the monoamine neurotransmitters revealed that vanillin elevated both serotonin and dopamine levels in brain tissue.…”

“…In this paper, we attempt to move one step forward in this line of research, by making a hypothesis that has practical implication for psychotherapy. We restrict our hypothesis to vanillin and citrus fragrances because encouraging experimental results have been found with lemon odors [2,3] and vanillin [4] using the rat model of MDD.…”

Possible antidepressant effects of vanillin against experimentally induced chronic mild stress in rats

“…5-HT is closely associated with depression (Cowen, 2008) and previous results showed that vanillin could relieve symptoms of depression in the rat model of chronic depression via increment of serotonin level in the brain (Xu et al, 2015).…”

“…To achieve this goal, two sets of experiments were conducted: a behavioral study to reveal depression incidence, and a biochemical study to investigate the underlying mechanisms behind anti depression test agent effects. The CMS method is a representative method for the induction of depression in rodents and is similar to the development of stress in humans (Xu et al, 2015).…”