Antidepressant effect of Chaihu-Shugan-San extract and its constituents in rat models of depression

Herbal preparations may be effective alternatives in the treatment of depression, which remains difficult to manage. Chaihu-Shugan-San (CSS), an oriental traditional medicine, has been used as a remedy for Hwa-Byung, a Korean culture-bound syndrome resembling depression. We examined whether aqueous extracts of CSS and its constituent herbs exert antidepressant-like effects in two experimental animal models: the forced swimming test (FST) and the chronic mild stress (CMS) model. The herbal extracts were administered orally for 7 days in the FST and for 21 days during the CMS model; imipramine at 20 mg/kg/day was injected intraperitoneally as a positive control. CSS, Radix Bupleuri (one of the most important constituent plants in CSS), and imipramine had significant anti-immobility effects in the FST and reversed the CMS-induced reduction in sucrose consumption. Rhizoma Cyperi, another constituent of CSS, had antidepressant activity in the FST, while it failed in the CMS model. In conclusion, our results suggest that CSS and its constituent herbs exert antidepressant-like effects comparable to those of imipramine in experimental animal models.