The extract of Acanthopanacis Cortex relieves the depression-like behavior and modulates IL-17 signaling in chronic mild stress-induced depressive mice

Abstract Background: Acanthopanacis Cortex (AC) is a valuable Chinese herbal medicine in Eleutherococcus Maxim., which has the effects of immune inflammatory modulation, anti-stress, anti-fatigue, sedation and analgesia. The functions of herbs from Eleutherococcus Maxim. involve neuroactivity, anti-fatigue, anti-stress and immune inflammatory modulation, and the peripheral functions of which are consistent with AC. However, the central nervous system function of AC has not been clearly illustrated. Since immune inflammatory modulation plays a critical role in the treatment of depression. In this study, we investigated the effect of AC against depression through immune inflammatory modulation.Methods: Chronic mild stress (CMS)-induced depressive mice were used to evaluate the effect of AC against depression. Behavior study and detection of neurotransmitters, neurotrophic factors and pro-inflammatory cytokines were carried out in the study. Interleukin-17 (IL-17) signaling cascade was involved to further study the underlying mechanism of AC against depression.Results: AC had a beneficial effect on CMS-induced depressive mice, including improvement in depressive behavior and modulation of the levels of neurotransmitters, neurotrophic factors and pro-inflammatory cytokines. Moreover, AC was able to suppress IL-17-midiated signaling cascade and thereby alleviating neuroinflammation and depression.Conclusions: Our results revealed that AC showed great effects on anti-depression through immune inflammatory modulation. These findings provide an insight into anti-depression therapy, which will be useful for the development of clinical application of AC.