PolyU Research Team Identifies Sustained Antidepressant Mechanism in Traditional Chinese Medicine Formula
A research team led by Professor Sonata YAU, Associate Professor in the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and member of both the Research Centre for Chinese Medicine Innovation (RCMI) and the Mental Health Research Centre (MHRC), has uncovered the long-term antidepressant effects of two bioactive compounds—geniposide (GP) and shanzhiside methyl ester (SM)—from the traditional Chinese medicine formula Yueju Pill.
Using a four-week chronic unpredictable stress mouse model, the study demonstrated that chronic co-administration of GP and SM (referred to as GS) significantly alleviated depression-like behaviors. Notably, high-dose GS enhanced hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptic plasticity, effects mediated through PACAP signaling in the dentate gyrus—a pathway confirmed essential, as antidepressant benefits were abolished when PACAP was knocked down.
These findings, published in the European Journal of Pharmacology, suggest that GS offers a promising therapeutic strategy for long-term depression treatment via a mechanism distinct from conventional neurogenesis-dependent approaches.
👉🔗 Read the full paper: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0014299926001950
