Auriculasin from Flemingia philippinensis roots shows good therapeutic indexes on hyperactive behavior in zebrafish

Abstract

Previously, period1b−/− zebrafish mutants were used to establish an attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) model, in which hyperactive behavior was found to be a typical characteristic of ADHD due to down-regulated dopamine levels. Here, we used five prenylated isoflavones from Flemingia philippinensis roots to study their therapeutic effects on hyperactivity behavior in period1b−/− zebrafish. Results of locomotor activity assay showed that auriculasin, one of the prenylated isoflavones, significantly reduced the hyperactivity behavior in period1b−/− zebrafish. Hormone measurement results showed that auriculasin increased melatonin and dopamine content. Results of quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction showed that auriculasin down-regulated the expression of mao but up-regulated the expression of th and per1b. Thus, auriculasin demonstrated a potential biological effect on dopamine activity to inhibit hyperactivity behavior in the ADHD zebrafish model by regulating circadian clock gene per1b.