Antidepressant-like effects of 20(S)-protopanaxadiol in a mouse model of chronic social defeat stress and the related mechanisms

20(S)-Protopanaxadiol (PPD) is a basic aglycone of the dammarane triterpenoid saponins and exerts antidepressant-like effects on behaviour in the forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) and in rat olfactory bulbectomy depression models. However, the antidepressant effects of PPD have not been studied thoroughly. The objective of the present study was first to investigate the effect of PPD on depression behaviours induced by chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) in mice. The results showed that CSDS was effective in producing depression-like behaviours in mice, as indicated by decreased responses in the social interaction test, sucrose preference test, TST, and FST, and that this effect was accompanied by noticeable alterations in the levels of oxidative markers (superoxide dismutase, catalase, and lipid peroxidation) and monoamines (5-HT and NE) in the hippocampus and serum corticosterone levels. Additionally, western blot analysis revealed that CSDS exposure significantly downregulated BDNF, p-TrkB/TrkB, p-Akt/Akt, and p-mTOR/mTOR protein expression in the hippocampus. Remarkably, chronic PPD treatment significantly ameliorated these behavioral and biochemical alterations associated withCSDS-induced depression. Our results suggest that PPD exerts antidepressant-like effects in mice with CSDS-induced depression and that this effect may be mediated by the normalization of neurotransmitter and corticosterone levels and the alleviation of oxidative stress, as well as the enhancement of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR-mediated BDNF/TrkB pathway.