Sesamol exhibits anti-depressant properties. - GreenMedInfo Summary
Neuropsychopharmacological effect of sesamol in unpredictable chronic mild stress model of depression: behavioral and biochemical evidences.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2011 Apr ;214(4):819-28. Epub 2010 Nov 20. PMID: 21103863
Pharmacology Research Laboratory, University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, UGC Centre of Advanced Study, Panjab University, Chandigarh, 160014, India.
RATIONALE: A complex relationship exists among stressful situations, body's reaction to stress, and the onset of clinical depression. Chronic unpredictable stressors can produce a situation similar to clinical depression, and such animal models can be used for the preclinical evaluation of antidepressants. Many findings have shown that the levels of proinflammatory cytokines (e.g., TNF-α) and oxidative stress (increased lipid peroxidation, decreased glutathione levels, and endogenous antioxidant enzyme activities) are increased in patients with depression. Sesamol, a phenolic derivative with a methylenedioxy group, is a potent inhibitor of cytokine production as well as an antioxidant.
OBJECTIVES: The present study was designed to investigate the effect of sesamol on unpredictable chronic stress-induced behavioral and biochemical alterations in mice.
METHODS: Animals were subjected to different stress paradigms daily for a period of 21 days to induce depressive-like behavior. The sucrose preference, immobility period, locomotor activity, memory acquisition, and retention were evaluated.
RESULTS: Chronic treatment with sesamol significantly reversed the unpredictable chronic stress-induced behavioral (increased immobility period, reduced sucrose preference), biochemical (increased lipid peroxidation and nitrite levels; decreased glutathione levels, superoxide dismutase and catalase activities), and inflammation surge (serum TNF-α) in stressed mice.
CONCLUSION: The study revealed that sesamol exerted antidepressant-like effects in behavioral despair paradigm in chronically stressed mice, specifically by modulating central oxidative-nitrosative stress and inflammation.