Effect of Paeoniflorin on Hippocamp Tissue Pathomorphology and BDNF Level of Forced Swimming Rats Model

OBJECTIVE To observe the antidepressant effect of Paeoniflorin and the possible mechanism in acute depressed rat model of forced swimming. METHODS SD rats were randomly divided into control group， model group， peony glycoside group and fluoxetine group（10/group）. The model group， Paeoniflorin group and Fluoxetine group were forced to swim for 15 min to establish the depressed model. Treatment groups were administered paeoniflorin(10 mg/kg) and fluoxetine (20 mg/kg)， respectively， 3 times in 24 h. Control group were treated with vehicle(saline). Observation indexes: the opening experiment of behavior， levels of BDNF in serum and hippocampus and the pathological observation of hippocampus. RESULTS Paeoniflorin significantly increased the motility distance of rats(P<0.01) and BDNF levels in rat serum and hippocampus(P<0.01)， which displayed protective effects on hippocampus pathomorphology. CONCLUSION Paeoniflorin shows antidepressant effect in forced swimming animal model， which probably relates to the BDNF/TrkB receptor signal transduction pathway.