Shayan E, Maheri F, Aflaki F, Mousavi SE, Zarrindast MR, Fakhraei N, Rezayat Sorkhabadi SM, Shushtarian SMM. Synergistic effects of citicoline and
silymarin nanomicelles in restraint stress-exposed mice.
Behav Brain Res 2024;
464:114929. [PMID:
38428646 DOI:
10.1016/j.bbr.2024.114929]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/17/2023] [Revised: 02/12/2024] [Accepted: 02/27/2024] [Indexed: 03/03/2024]
Abstract
This study evaluated the effects of citicoline and silymarin nanomicelles (SMnm) in repeated restraint stress (RRS).
METHOD
Mice were exposed to RRS for four consecutive days, 2 hrs. daily. On day 5 of the study, SMnm (25 and 50 mg/kg, i.p.) and citicoline (25 and 75 mg/kg), and a combination of them (25 mg/kg, i.p.) were initiated. On day 18, anxiety-like behavior, behavioral despair, and exploratory behavior were evaluated. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the hippocampus were dissected measuring brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) through Western Blot and ELISA, respectively.
RESULTS
In RR-exposed mice, anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze (EPM) was enhanced by reductions in open arm time (OAT%) P < 0.001, and open arm entry (OAE%) P < 0.001. In the forced swimming test (FST), the immobility increased P < 0.001 while the swimming and climbing reduced P < 0.001. In the open field test (OFT), general motor activity was raised P < 0.05. Further, body weights reduced P < 0.001, and tissue BDNF and pCREB expressions decreased P < 0.001 while TNF-α increased P < 0.001. Conversely, SMnm, citicoline and their combination could reduce anxiety-like behavior P < 0.001. The combination group reduced the depressive-like behaviors P < 0.001. Moreover, body weights were restored P < 0.001. Besides, BDNF and pCREB expressions increased while TNF-α reduced, P < 0.001.
CONCLUSION
The combination synergistically improved emotion-like behaviors, alleviating the inflammation and upregulating the hippocampal BDNF-mediated CREB signaling pathway.
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