Protective effect of Lycium Barbarum polysaccharides on dextromethorphan-induced mood impairment and neurogenesis suppression.

Protective effect of Lycium Barbarum polysaccharides on dextromethorphan-induced mood impairment and neurogenesis suppression. Brain Res Bull. 2017 Jun 20;: Authors: Po KK, Leung JW, Chan JN, Fung TK, Sánchez-Vidaña DI, Sin EL, So KF, Lau BW, Siu AM Abstract Dextromethorphan (DXM) is one of the common drugs abused by adolescents. It is the active ingredient found in cough medicine which is used for suppressing cough. High dosage of DXM can induce euphoria, dissociative effects and even hallucinations. Chronic use of DXM may also lead to depressive-related symptoms. Lycium barbarum, commonly known as wolfberry, has been used as a traditional Chinese medicine for the treatment of ageing-related neurodegenerative diseases. A recent study has shown the potential beneficial effect of Lycium barbarum to reduce depression-like behavior. In the present study, we investigated the role of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) to alleviate DXM-induced emotional distress. Sprague Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups (n=6 per group), including the normal control (vehicles only), DXM-treated group (40 mg/kg DXM), LBP-treated group (1 mg/kg LBP) and DXM+ LBP-treated group (40 mg/kg DXM and 1 mg/kg LBP). After two-week treatment, the DXM-treated group showed increased depression-like and social anxiety-like behaviors in the forced swim test and social interaction test respectively. On the other hand, the adverse behavioral effects induced by DXM ...
Source: Brain Research Bulletin - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Brain Res Bull Source Type: research