Abstract:Objective To investigate the pharmacodynamics， pharmacokinetics and brain distribution of seven main components of Jiaotaiwan alone and Jiaotaiwan combined with borneol in lipopolysaccharide（LPS）-induced depression rats.Method Rats were randomly divided into the control group， model group， fluoxetine group（10 mg·kg-1）， Jiaotaiwan group（1.5 g·kg-1） and combination group（1.5 g·kg-1 of Jiaotaiwan+0.05 g·kg-1 of borneol）， with 8 rats in each group. Except for the control group， the depression model was established by intraperitoneal injection of LPS for 7 consecutive days， and each group was given the corresponding drugs or the same volume of pure water by gavage for 14 consecutive days. The behavioral indicators and levels of serum inflammatory factors［interleukin-1β（IL-1β）， IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α（TNF-α）］ of rats in each group were compared. The morphological changes of hippocampal neurons were observed by hematoxylin-eosin（HE） and Nissl staining. After the behavioral tests of sucrose preference， open field and forced swimming were completed， blood samples were collected from Jiaotaiwan group and combination group at the set time points after gavage， the contents of seven components in plasma were determined by ultra performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole tandem mass spectrometry（UPLC-QqQ-MS/MS）， and the pharmacokinetic parameters of each component were analyzed by DAS 3.2.2. Brains were rapidly removed on ice after blood collection was completed， and UPLC-QqQ-MS/MS was used to compare the content changes of the 7 components in brain tissue.Result Compared with the control group， rats in the model group showed decreased sucrose preference rate and total distance of open field， prolonged swimming immobility time， and increased expression of inflammatory factors in serum（P<0.01）. Compared with the model group， the sucrose preference rate and total distance of open field were increased， and the swimming immobility time was shortened in the rats of each administration group， and the expression of inflammatory factors in serum was decreased in rats from Jiaotaiwan group and combination group（P<0.05， P<0.01）. The results of HE and Nissl staining showed that Jiaotaiwan group and combination group had a certain protective effect on hippocampal neurons. The pharmacokinetic results showed that compared with Jiaotaiwan group， the area under the curve（AUC0-t， AUC0-∞）， peak concentration（Cmax） and the average steady-state plasma concentration（Cav） of berberine and epiberberine in the combination group were increased（P<0.05， P<0.01）， AUC0-t， AUC0-∞， mean residence time（MRT0-∞） and Cav of coptisine were significantly increased（P<0.05， P<0.01）， Cmax of jatrorrhizine increased significantly（P<0.05）， but the pharmacokinetic changes of the seven alkaloids were consistent. The results of brain tissue distribution showed that compared with Jiaotaiwan group， the contents of jatrorrhizine， epiberberine， coptisine， palmatine and berberine in the brain tissue of combination group were increased（P<0.05， P<0.01）， the content of magnoflorine increased and that of berberrubine decreased， but the difference was not statistically significant.Conclusion Jiaotaiwan alone or combined with borneol can improve the depression-like behavior of rats， reduce the levels of serum inflammatory factors， improve the pathological damage of hippocampus， and have antidepressant effect. Compared with Jiaotaiwan alone， the combination of Jiaotaiwan and borneol can increase the exposure of multiple active components of Jiaotaiwan in the plasma and brain tissue of rats， improve its bioavailability， promote its absorption， and improve the brain targeting of the drug， which is more conducive to the antidepressant effect of Jiaotaiwan.
