Shuganjieyu capsule has been approved for clinical treatment by the State Food and Drug Administration of China since 2008. In the clinic, Shuganjieyu capsule is often used to treat mild to moderate depression.
Prof. Jingping Zhao and team from the Second Xiangya Hospital, Central South University in China conducted a study to examine the effect of Shuganjieyu capsule on behavioral changes in a rat model of depression. They focused on the underlying mechanisms of Shuganjieyu capsule by examining brain-derived neurotrophic factor and phosphorylated cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein expression levels in the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampal CA3 area. The results presented in this study demonstrate that Shuganjieyu capsule effectively reverses depressive-like behaviors by increasing brain-derived neurotrophic factor and phosphorylated cyclic adenosine monophosphate response element binding protein expression levels in the medial prefrontal cortex and hippocampalCA3 area of depressive-like rats, which may be one of the anti-depressant mechanisms of Shuganjieyu capsule. This study has been published in the Neural Regeneration Research.