Antidepressant-Like and Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Centella Asiatica Extract and Active Compound in Adult Rats Subjected to Early Life Stress
Amanda G Bertollo1*, Jesiel de Medeiros1, Maiqueli E D Mingoti1, Tacio de Oliveira1, Margarete D Bagatini1, Lilian C Bohnen2, Walter A Roman Junior2 and Zuleide M Ignacio1
1Universidade Federal da Fronteira Sul, campus Chapeco, Brazil.
2Universidade Comunitária da Regiao de Chapeco - Unochapeco, Brazil.
Citation: Bertollo AG, Medeiros JDE, Mingoti MED, Oliveira TDE, Bagatini MD (2022) Antidepressant-Like and Anti-Inflammatory Effect of Centella Asiatica Extract and Active Compound in Adult Rats Subjected to Early Life Stress. SciTech Central Neurology 2022.
Received: August 19, 2022 Accepted: August 22, 2022 Published: August 22, 2022
Abstract
Major depressive disorder (MDD) is a serious disorder that causes enormous loss of people's quality of life, one of the most prevalent forms of mental illness. Among the most relevant factors underlying MDD is childhood stress. In rodents, maternal deprivation (MD) is a behavioral model that mimics traumas early in people's lives. In individuals with MDD, some studies have observed an increase in the release of inflammatory cytokines in the central nervous system. The medicinal species Centella asiatica (C. asiatica) has been studied for its potential neuroprotective and antidepressant effects. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of MD stress in the first days of life on depressive-like behaviors and hippocampal neuroinflammation in young adult rats and the effect of treatment with C. asiatica extract and its active compound madecassic acid on type-like behaviors. Depression and possible neuroinflammation. The animals were divided into five groups (N = 10 each group): Control without stress + vehicle (Control without stress); MD + vehicle (Negative control); MD + Escitalopram (positive control) 10 mg/kg; MD + C. asiatica extract 30 mg/kg; MD + madecassic acid 10 mg/kg. The animals were submitted to MD 10 days after the first day of birth. At sixty days of age, the animals were submitted to chronic treatment for 14 (fourteen) days according to the objective of each group. At the end of the treatment, the animals were submitted to protocols of locomotor activity in the open field and behavioral despair in the forced swimming test. After the last test, the animals were euthanized, and the hippocampus was removed and stored at a temperature of approximately -70ºC for later analysis of the activity of inflammatory cytokines. The MD protocol induced depressive-like behaviors and impairments in biological functions, such as increased inflammatory cytokines in the hippocampus. The C. asiatica extract and active compound reversed or reduced depressive-like behaviors and inflammation in the hippocampus.
Keywords: Major depressive disorder, Maternal deprivation, Neuroinflammation, Centella asiatica, Madecassic acid
Abbreviations: Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), Maternal Deprivation (MD), Centella asiatica (C. asiatica)
