Ginsenoside Rh2 alleviates tumor-associated depression in a mouse model of colorectal carcinoma

Previous studies reported remarkable high incidence of depression in cancer patients compared with the general population. Colorectal carcinoma (CRC) is one of the most frequent malignancies worldwide and has been found to be one of the malignancies with the highest incidence of patient depression. Thus, strategies that may alleviate CRC-associated depression may significantly improve the patients' life quality and outcome of the therapy. Ginsenoside Rh2 (GRh2) has been reported to have therapeutic effects on various diseases. However, whether it may also play a potential role in alleviating tumor-associated depression in CRC patients is unknown. Here, we studied the role of GRh2 in the control of depression in CRC using a mouse model. CRC was induced in mice through orthotopic implantation. GRh2 or control vehicle was then given to the mice twice per week for 4 weeks, after which the mice were subjected to a forced swim test (FST), a tail suspension test (TST) and a sucrose intake test (SIT). We found that the mice that received GRh2 treatment significantly improved their behaviors in all FST, TST and SIT tests, seemingly through decreases in the depression-associated cytokines, interleukin 6 (IL-6), IL-18 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha. Moreover, GRh2 significantly increased survival time of the CRC-mice. Together, our data suggest that GRh2 may alleviate tumor-associated depression in mice carrying CRC and highlight GRh2 treatment as a potential beneficial therapy for CRC-associated depression in patients.