The Antidepressant-like Effect of Ethanol Extract of Daylily Flowers (金針花 Jīn Zhēn Huā) in Rats

Journal of Traditional and Complementary Medicine

Pei-Ju Chen¹  Shih-Hang Lin¹  Hui-Chi Chang¹  Lee-Yan Sheen¹  Ching-Liang Hsieh²  Kuan-Pin Su³ 

[1] Graduate Institute of Food Science and Technology, National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan.;Graduate Institute of Integration Chinese and Western Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.;Graduate Institute of Neural and Cognitive Sciences, China Medical University, Taichung, Taiwan.;

关键词: Antidepressant;    Daylily;    Forced swimming test;    Hemerocallis fulva;    Serotonergic system;   

DOI  :  10.4103/2225-4110.106548

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

According to the prediction of the 2008 World Health Organization (WHO) report, depression will be the highest burden disease by the year 2030. Daylily flower (金針花 Jīn Zhēn Huā ; the flower of Hemerocallis fulva) is traditionally used for soothing in Chinese dietary therapy. The major flavonoid of daylily flowers, rutin, is also characterized to be an antidepressant. In this study, we investigated the antidepressant effects of ethanol extract of daylily flowers (DFEtoH) and rutin by forced swimming test (FST) and neurotransmitter metabolism of brain regions (frontal cortex, hippocampus, striatum, and amygdala). Results show that either short- or long-term tests, the extract and rutin significantly reduce the immobility time and increased swimming time of FST, which are compared with the vehicle (P < 0.05). The extract and rutin also increase the serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine concentration of these brain regions (P < 0.05). In long-term tests, the daylily flowers extract markedly increased serotonin concentration and reduced serotonin turnover rate in these brain regions but not frontal cortex. In conclusion, present data illustrated that DFEtoH does have antidepressant-like effects possibly via the regulation of serotonergic system. Moreover, rutin might be playing a very important role in the antidepressant-like effects of DFEtoH.

【 授权许可】

Unknown