| Literature DB >> 21477634 |
Qing-Qiu Mao1, Yan-Fang Xian, Siu-Po Ip, Chun-Tao Che.
Abstract
Piperine is a major alkaloid of black pepper (Piper nigrum Linn.) and long pepper (P. longum Linn.), and its antidepressant-like effect has been previously demonstrated. The purpose of this study was to explore the possible contribution of the serotonergic system in the antidepressant-like effect of piperine in mice. The results showed that piperine significantly reduced the immobility time in the forced swim test and tail suspension test in mice. The anti-immobility effect of piperine in the forced swim test and tail suspension test was completely abolished by pre-treating the mice with pCPA (an inhibitor of 5-HT synthesis). Piperine treatment also significantly potentiated the number of head-twitches of mice induced by 5-HTP (a metabolic precursor to 5-HT). In addition, the neurochemical assays showed that piperine produced a marked increase of 5-HT level in both the hippocampus and frontal cortex of mice. Taken together, these results clearly suggest that the antidepressant-like effect of piperine is mediated via the serotonergic system by enhancing 5-HT content in mouse brain.Entities:
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Year: 2011 PMID： 21477634 DOI： 10.1016/j.pnpbp.2011.03.017
Source DB: PubMed Journal: Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry ISSN： 0278-5846 Impact factor: 5.067