Abstract
Depression is still one of challenging, and widely encountered disorders with complex etiology. The role of healthy diet and olive oil in ameliorating depression has been claimed. This study was designed to explore the effects of oleuropein; the main constituent of olive oil; on depression-like behaviors that are induced by repeated administration of corticosterone (40 mg/kg, i.p.), once a day for 21 days, in mice. Oleuropein (8, 16, and 32 mg/kg, i.p.) or fluoxetine (20 mg/kg, positive control, i.p.1) was administered 30 minutes prior to corticosterone injection. Sucrose consumption test, open-field test (OFT), tail suspension test (TST), and forced swimming test (FST) were performed. Reduced Glutathione (GSH), lipid peroxidation, and biogenic amines; serotonin, dopamine, and nor-epinephrine; levels were also analyzed in brain homogenates. Corticosterone treatment induced depression-like behaviors, it increased immobility time in the TST, OFT, and FST, decreased the number of movements in OFT, and decreased sucrose consumption. Corticosterone effect was associated with depletion of reduced glutathione and increase of lipid peroxidation, in addition to modification of biogenic amines; decreased serotonin and dopamine. Oleuropein or fluoxetine administration counteracted corticosterone-induced changes. In conclusion, oleuropein showed a promising antidepressant activity, that is evident by improving corticosterone-induced depression-like behaviors, and normalizing levels of biogenic amines.
Highlights
Major depressive disorder (MDD), known as depression, is a common mental disorder that affects patients’ health and quality of life, being associated with psychological, social and physical problems, as well as suicidal tendency[1]
Each bar represents the mean of 6 rats + SEM. a: significant compared to the control group; b: significant compared to the Cort group; c: significant compared to Cort + Fluoxetine group; d: significant compared to Cort + oleuropein (8 mg/kg) group. *p ≤ 0.05, **p ≤ 0.01, ***p ≤ 0.001
The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of different doses of oleuropein, a strong antioxidant derived from olives, in ameliorating depressive-like behaviors in a Cort-model of depression, and to explore its effect on biogenic amines
Summary
Major depressive disorder (MDD), known as depression, is a common mental disorder that affects patients’ health and quality of life, being associated with psychological, social and physical problems, as well as suicidal tendency[1]. Recent evidences suggest that oxidative stress might contribute significantly to the pathogenesis of many psychiatric disorders, including depression This was supported by data reporting that major depression is associated with lowered levels of several endogenous antioxidants, including vitamin E, zinc and coenzyme Q10, along with reduced antioxidant enzymes such as glutathione peroxidase[3]. In experimental animals, repeated Cort injection induced depressive-like behaviour, as evidenced by a reduced sucrose consumption, and increased immobility time in behavioral tests, e.g. forced swimming test and tail suspension test. It induces neurochemical and histopathological changes, that are indicative of depression[3,18], and are significantly ameliorated by antidepressants[2,18]. Fluoxetine, one of classical SSRIs, was used in this study as a positive control
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