St John's wort, hypericin, and imipramine: a comparative analysis of mRNA levels in brain areas involved in HPA axis control following short-term and long-term administration in normal and stressed rats
Abstract
Clinical studies demonstrate that the antidepressant efficacy of St John's wort (Hypericum) is comparable to that of tricyclic antidepressants such as imipramine. Onset of efficacy of these drugs occurs after several weeks of treatment. Therefore, we used in situhybridization histochemistry to examine in rats the effects of short-term (2 weeks) and long-term (8 weeks) administration of imipramine, Hypericum extract, and hypericin (an active constituent of St John's wort) on the expression of genes that may be involved in the regulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Imipramine (15 mg kg(-1)), Hypericum (500 mg kg(-1)), and hypericin (0.2 mg kg(-1)) given daily by gavage for 8 weeks but not for 2 weeks significantly decreased levels of corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) mRNA by 16-22% in the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus (PVN) and serotonin 5-HT(1A) receptor mRNA by 11-17% in the hippocampus. Only imipramine decreased tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) mRNA levels in the locus coeruleus (by 23%), and only at 8 weeks. The similar delayed effects of the three compounds on gene transcription suggests a shared action on the centers that control HPA axis activity. A second study was performed to assess the effects of long-term imipramine and Hypericum administration on stress-induced changes in gene transcription in stress-responsive circuits. Repeated immobilization stress (2 h daily for 7 days) increased mRNA levels of CRH in the PVN, proopiomelanocortin (POMC…
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Individual responses to social stressors within experimental preparations have become increasingly useful in modeling aspects of depression-like behavior with high construct, face, discriminative and predictive validity.
“Individual responses to social stressors within experimental preparations have thus become increasingly useful in modeling aspects of depression-like behavior with high construct, face, discriminative and predictive validity3,7–11.”
From A standardized protocol for repeated social defeat stress in mice (2011) · cites this paper as [7]
Social defeat stress in mice has excellent etiological, predictive, discriminative and face validity.
“When considering experimental approaches for studying depression, social defeat stress, in particular, has been shown to have excellent etiological, predictive, discriminative and face validity.”
From A standardized protocol for repeated social defeat stress in mice (2011) · cites this paper as [7]
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A standardized protocol for repeated social defeat stress in mice
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- Authors
- Butterweck, V, Winterhoff, H., & Herkenham, M.
- Affiliations
- University of Münster (DE)
- National Institutes of Health (US)
- Corresponding author
- Herkenham, M
- Venue
- Molecular Psychiatry
- Published
- 2001-08-29
- Volume
- 6
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 547-564
- ISSN
- 1359-4184 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-5578
- OpenAlex
- W2024837955
- Cited by
- 91
- References
- 5
- Citations by year
- 2024: 8 · 2023: 4 · 2022: 2 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 4 · 2016: 1 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 4 · 2012: 3
- FWCI
- 2.86
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Molecular Psychiatry (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Behavioral Neuroscience › Stress Responses and Cortisol
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Plant Science › Natural Compound Pharmacology Studies
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Complementary and alternative medicine › Medicinal Plant Extracts Effects
- Keywords
- Hypericum perforatum, Hypericum, hypericin, imipramine, antidepressants, hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, corticotropin-releasing factor, 5-HT1A receptor, tyrosine hydroxylase, locus coeruleus, paraventricular nucleus, restraint stress, stress-responsive gene expression, proopiomelanocortin, brain-derived neurotrophic factor, glutamic acid decarboxylase, CREB
- MeSH terms
- Adrenal Glands, Adrenocorticotropic Hormone, Animals, Anthracenes, Antidepressive Agents, Arginine Vasopressin, Brain, Corticosterone, Corticotropin-Releasing Hormone, Drug Administration Schedule, Glutamate Decarboxylase, Hippocampus, Hypothalamo-Hypophyseal System, Imipramine, Isoenzymes, Locus Coeruleus, Male, Paraventricular Hypothalamic Nucleus, Perylene, Pituitary Gland, Plants, Medicinal, Pro-Opiomelanocortin, Receptors, Serotonin, Reference Values, Restraint, Physical, RNA, Messenger, Stress, Psychological, Transcription, Genetic, Tyrosine 3-Monooxygenase, Rats, Sprague-Dawley, Cyclic AMP Response Element-Binding Protein, In Situ Hybridization, Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor, Hypericum, Receptors, Serotonin, 5-HT1, Rats
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