(1)H NMR-based metabolic profiling of liver in chronic unpredictable mild stress rats with genipin treatment.

Genipin, a hydrolyzed metabolite of geniposide extracted from the fruit of Gardenia jasminoides Ellis, has shown promise in alleviating depressive symptoms, however, the antidepressant mechanism of genipin remains unclear and incomprehensive. In this study, the metabolic profiles of aqueous and lipophilic extracts in liver of the chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced rat with genipin treatment were investigated using proton nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H NMR) spectroscopy coupled with multivariate data analysis. Significant differences in the metabolic profiles of rats in the CUMS model group (MS) and the control group (NS) were observed with metabolic effects including decreasing in choline, glycerol and glycogen, increasing in lactate, alanine and succinate, and a disordered lipid metabolism, while the moderate dose (50mg/kg) of genipin could significantly regulate the concentrations of glycerol, lactate, alanine, succinate and the lipid to their normal levels. These biomakers were involved in metabolism pathways such as glycolysis/gluconeogensis, tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and lipid metabolism, which may be helpful for understanding of antidepressant mechanism of genipin.