Rutin alleviates chronic unpredictable stress-induced behavioral alterations and hippocampal damage in mice

Chronic stress results in neurological complications like depression, cognitive dysfunction, and anxiety disorders. In our previous study, we observed that Urtica dioica leaf extract attenuated chronic stress-induced complications. Further, we observed that Urtica dioica contained a great amount of the flavonoid rutin in it. Hence, we aimed to evaluate the effect of rutin on 21 days chronic unpredictable stress (CUS) mouse model. CUS led to a decline in locomotion & muscle coordination abilities, cognitive deficits, anxiety, and depression. These neurobehavioral outcomes were associated with neurodegeneration in the CA3 region of the hippocampus as found by H&E staining. Rutin efficiently rescued the CUS-induced behavioral deficits by reducing depression, anxiety, improving cognition, and locomotor & muscle coordination skills. Further, rutin treatment protected the CUS-induced hippocampal neuronal loss. This study establishes the neuroprotective effect of rutin in chronic stress.