PMID- 24401376
OWN - NLM
STAT- PubMed-not-MEDLINE
DCOM- 20140219
LR  - 20220408
IS  - 1560-8115 (Print)
IS  - 2008-2231 (Electronic)
IS  - 1560-8115 (Linking)
VI  - 22
IP  - 1
DP  - 2014 Jan 8
TI  - Antidepressant effects of crocin and its effects on transcript and protein levels 
      of CREB, BDNF, and VGF in rat hippocampus.
PG  - 16
LID - 10.1186/2008-2231-22-16 [doi]
AB  - BACKGROUND: Antidepressants have been shown to affect levels of brain-derived 
      neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and VGF (non-acronymic) whose transcriptions are 
      dependent on cAMP response element binding protein (CREB) in long term treatment. 
      The aim of this study was to verify the subacute antidepressant effects of 
      crocin, an active constituent of saffron (Crocus sativus L.), and its effects on 
      CREB, BDNF, and VGF proteins, transcript levels and amount of active, 
      phosphorylated CREB (P-CREB) protein in rat hippocampus. METHODS: Crocin (12.5, 
      25, and 50 mg/kg), imipramine (10 mg/kg; positive control) and saline (1 mL/kg; 
      neutral control) were administered intraperitoneally (IP) to male Wistar rats for 
      21 days. The antidepressant effects were studied using the forced swimming test 
      (FST) on day 21 after injection. Protein expression and transcript levels of 
      genes in the rat hippocampus were evaluated using western blot and quantitative 
      reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), respectively. RESULTS: 
      Crocin significantly reduced the immobility time in the FST. Western blot 
      analysis showed that 25 and 50 mg/kg of crocin increased the levels of CREB and 
      BDNF significantly and dose dependently. All doses of crocin increased the VGF 
      levels in a dose-dependent manner. Levels of p-CREB increased significantly by 
      50 mg/kg dose of crocin. Only 12.5 mg/kg crocin could significantly increase the 
      transcript levels of BDNF. No changes in CREB and VGF transcript levels were 
      observed in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that crocin has 
      antidepressant-like action by increasing CREB, BDNF and VGF levels in 
      hippocampus.
FAU - Vahdati Hassani, Faezeh
AU  - Vahdati Hassani F
FAU - Naseri, Vahideh
AU  - Naseri V
FAU - Razavi, Bibi Marjan
AU  - Razavi BM
FAU - Mehri, Soghra
AU  - Mehri S
FAU - Abnous, Khalil
AU  - Abnous K
FAU - Hosseinzadeh, Hossein
AU  - Hosseinzadeh H
AD  - Pharmaceutical Research Center, Department of Pharmacodynamics and Toxicology, 
      School of Pharmacy, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. 
      Hosseinzadehh@mums.ac.ir.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
DEP - 20140108
PL  - Switzerland
TA  - Daru
JT  - Daru : journal of Faculty of Pharmacy, Tehran University of Medical Sciences
JID - 101125969
PMC - PMC3927874
EDAT- 2014/01/10 06:00
MHDA- 2014/01/10 06:01
PMCR- 2014/01/08
CRDT- 2014/01/10 06:00
PHST- 2013/07/27 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2013/11/10 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2014/01/10 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2014/01/10 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2014/01/10 06:01 [medline]
PHST- 2014/01/08 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - 2008-2231-22-16 [pii]
AID - 10.1186/2008-2231-22-16 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - Daru. 2014 Jan 8;22(1):16. doi: 10.1186/2008-2231-22-16.