The administration of Suanzaoren Decoction can alleviate anxiety- and depression-like behaviors in mice by modulating activity in their basolateral amygdala neurons.
The research employed male C57BL/6J mice sub-divided into four different groups: control, chronic restraint stress, Suanzaoren Decoction, and fluoxetine. The stress models were established by restraining the mice for six hours a day over 21 days, with the control group remaining in their cages without food or water during this period. The Suanzaoren Decoction and fluoxetine groups received daily administration of their respective substances 30 minutes before restraint, continuing for the 21 day period. Behavioral tests were used to evaluate the therapeutic effects of Suanzaoren Decoction.
Discussion of Results: The study found that administration of Suanzaoren Decoction resulted in increased time spent in the open arms, reduced immobility time, and downregulated stress-induced expression and firing of neurons in the basolateral amygdala. Most notably, the decoction exhibited an ability to selectively attenuate excitatory, but not inhibitory, synaptic transmission onto these neurons, leading to alleviation of induced anxiety and depression-like behaviors.
