Stress-induced changes in cognitive function and intestinal barrier integrity can be ameliorated by venlafaxine and synbiotic supplementations.

Stress profoundly impacts various aspects of both physical and psychological well-being. Our previous study demonstrated that venlafaxine (Vlx) and synbiotic (Syn) treatment attenuated learned fear-like behavior and recognition memory impairment in immobilized-stressed rats. In this study, we further investigated the physical, behavior, and cellular mechanisms underlying the effects of Syn and/or Vlx treatment on brain and intestinal functions in stressed rats. Adult male Wistar rats, aged 8 weeks old were subjected to 14 days of immobilization stress showed a decrease in body weight gain and food intake as well as an increase in water consumption, urinary corticosterone levels, and adrenal gland weight. Supplementation of Syn and/or Vlx in stressed rats resulted in mitigation of weight loss, restoration of normal food and fluid intake, and normalization of corticosterone levels. Behavioral analysis showed that treatment with Syn and/or Vlx enhanced depressive-like behaviors and improved spatial learning-memory impairment in stressed rats. Hippocampal dentate gyrus showed stress-induced neuronal cell death, which was attenuated by Syn and/or Vlx treatment. Stress-induced ileum inflammation and increased intestinal permeability were both effectively reduced by the supplementation of Syn. In addition, Syn and Vlx partly contributed to affecting the expression of the glial cell-derived neurotrophic factor in the hippocampus and intestines of stressed rats, suggesting particularly protective effects on both the gut barrier and the brain. This study highlights the intricate interplay between stress physiological responses in the brain and gut. Syn intervention alleviate stress-induced neuronal cell death and modulate depression- and memory impairment-like behaviors, and improve stress-induced gut barrier dysfunction which were similar to those of Vlx. These findings enhance our understanding of stress-related health conditions and suggest the synbiotic intervention may be a promising approach to ameliorate deleterious effects of stress on the gut-brain axis.

Hypolipidemic and hypoglycemic effects of Centella asiatica (L.) extract in vitro and in vivo.

In vitro study revealed that pancreatic lipase inhibitory activity of C. asiatica extract was significantly higher than rutin but lower than orlistat, an anti-obesity drug. alpha-Amylase inhibitory activities of C. asiatica extract and rutin were significantly lower than acarbose, an anti-diabetic drug. Inhibition of alpha-glucosidase activity by C. asiatica extract, rutin, and acarbose was not different. The in vivo study substantiated the in vitro results. C. asiatica extract (1000 and 2000 mg/4 mL/kg), rutin (1000 mg/4 mL/kg), and orlistat (45 mg/4 mL/kg) significantly decreased plasma glucose, triglyceride and total cholesterol levels in lipid emulsion-induced hyperlipidemic rats at 3 h. However, plasma aspartate aminotransferase and alanine aminotransferase levels did not show significant change. The present work further supports that the C. asiatica extract and its bioactive rutin may help managing hypolipidemic and hypoglycemic effects.