Antidepressant-like effects of a novel curcumin derivative J147: Involvement of 5-HT1A receptor

Depression is a dysthymia disorder characterized by a pervasive or persistent mental disorder that causes mood, cognitive and memory deficits. J147, a curcumin analogue, increases brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels and facilitates memory in animals. Because curcumin has the antidepressant-like activity, the present study investigated the potential antidepressant-like effects of J147 in the forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension tests (TST) and the involvement of 5-HT receptors related to cAMP signaling. The results suggested that acute treatment of J147 at doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg via gavage markedly reduced the duration of immobility in both TST and FST, either 1 h or 3 h after treatment, respectively. It did not alter locomotor activity but influence the immobile response. The molecular biological assays showed that 5-HT1A receptor expression was significantly increased at 1 h after treatment with J147 at a dose of 10 mg/kg. In addition, pre-treatment of mice with WAY-100635 blocked the J147's effect in the FST. 5-HT1B receptor expression was not significantly increased with increasing doses of J147. The 5-HT1B receptors antagonist isamoltan partially prevented J147's effect in the FST. The levels of downstream molecular targets, cAMP, PKA, pCREB and BDNF were significantly increased 1 h after treatment with J147 at doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg. The up-regulated pCREB and BDNF levels lasted for 3 h after 10 mg/kg of J147. These findings demonstrated that J147 has antidepressant-like effects that are mediated, at least in part, by activating the 5-HT1A/cAMP/PKA/CREB/BDNF-signaling pathway.