Two traditional herbs matched an antidepressant drug in mice
Yin Y, Wu Z, Liu R, Song C, Deng M
Medicinal Plants
The same plant chemistry researchers are mining for depression treatments often traces back to leaves and fruits found in traditional medicine gardens and herbal apothecaries, not synthetic labs.
Scientists combined two plants long used together in Chinese herbal medicine, Eucommia tree leaves and Gardenia fruit, and gave the mix to stressed mice. The herb pair calmed depression-like and anxiety-like behavior as well as a standard antidepressant drug did, and it worked by boosting a brain signal called PACAP that helps neurons build new connections. When researchers blocked that signal, the herbs stopped working, showing this pathway was the real reason the plants helped.
Key Findings
The Eucommia-Gardenia herb pair reduced depression and anxiety symptoms in two different mouse models of depression, with effects comparable to the antidepressant fluoxetine
Treatment increased PACAP and synaptic proteins (PSD95, Synapsin-1) in the hippocampus, boosted BDNF-positive cells, and reduced inflammatory microglial cells
Knocking down PACAP in the hippocampus blocked both the antidepressant effect and the PI3K/AKT/mTOR signaling activation, confirming PACAP as the key mechanism
chevron_right Technical Summary
A traditional Chinese herb pair, Eucommia leaf and Gardenia fruit, worked as well as a common antidepressant in mice by boosting a brain signaling molecule called PACAP, which strengthens connections between brain cells.
Abstract Preview
Original paper
Herb pair of Eucommiae Folium and Gardeniae Fructus enhanced hippocampal PACAP-mediated neuroplasticity via the non-classic downstream PI3K/AKT signaling to exert antidepressant effects.
Conventional antidepressant therapy necessitates prolonged medication, which can result in a plethora of adverse effects, including osteoporosis. Eucommiae Folium (EF) has been demonstrated to alle...
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Eucommia is a genus of small trees now native to China, with a fossil record that shows a much wider distribution. The single living species, Eucommia ulmoides, is vulnerable in the wild, but is widely cultivated in China for its bark, and is highly valued in herbology such as traditional Chinese...