Polydatin Alleviates Chronic Stress-Induced Depressive and Anxiety-like Behaviors in a Mouse Model

We aimed to investigate whether polydatin could suppress stress-induced depression- and anxiety-like behaviors in a mouse model. Mice were divided into the control group, chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) exposure group, and CUMS mice treated with polydatin group. Following CUMS exposure and polydatin treatment, mice were subjected to behavioral assays to assess depressive-like and anxiety-like behaviors. Synaptic function was determined by the levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD95), and synaptophysin (SYN) in the hippocampus and cultured hippocampal neurons. The number and length of dendrites were assessed in cultured hippocampal neurons. Finally, we investigated the effect of polydatin on CUMS-induced inflammation and oxidative stress in the hippocampus by measuring inflammatory cytokine levels, oxidative stress markers such as reactive oxygen species, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, and superoxide dismutase, as well as components of the Nrf2 signaling pathway. Polydatin alleviated CUMS-induced depressive-like behaviors in forced swimming, tail suspension and sucrose preference tests, and anxiety-like behaviors in marble-burying and elevated plus maze tests. Polydatin increased the number and length of dendrites of cultured hippocampal neurons from mice exposed to CUMS and alleviated CUMS-induced synaptic deficits by restoring BDNF, PSD95, and SYN levels in vivo and in vitro. Importantly, polydatin inhibited CUMS-induced hippocampal inflammation and oxidative stress and suppressed the activation of NFκB and Nrf2 pathways. Our study suggests that polydatin may be an effective drug for the treatment of affective disorders through inhibiting neuroinflammation and oxidative stress. Our current findings warrant further study to investigate the potential clinical application of polydatin.