Ginsenoside Rg1 attenuates chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depressive-like effect via regulating NF-κB/NLRP3 pathway in rats.

Ginsenoside (GS Rg1), which has neuroprotection and anti-inflammation activities, is the main active ingredient of Radix Ginseng. However, its antidepressant-like effect in rats remains unclear. Our study was conducted to investigate whether GS Rg1 confers an antidepressant effect in rats exposed to a chronic unpredictable mild stress model of depression and to explore its possible mechanisms. Our results revealed that GS Rg1 treatments for 3 weeks alleviated the depression-related behaviors of chronic unpredictable mild stress-exposed rats, as indicated by increasing sucrose preference, improving locomotor activity and shortening immobile time in both the forced swimming tests and tail suspension tests. And these ameliorative effects of GS Rg1 treatment were involved with regulating chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced pro-inflammatory cytokine interleukin beta (IL-1ß) related neuro-inflammation. In addition, we further found that GS Rg1 reversed chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced IL-1ß elevation, possibly by inhibiting nuclear factor kappa B pathway activation and regulating nucleotide binding and oligomerization domain-like receptor family pyrin domain-containing 3 inflammasome expression. In short, our results suggested that GS Rg1 exerted a potential antidepressant-like effect in chronic unpredictable mild stress rat model of depression, which may provide an insight into the potential of GS Rg1 in therapeutic implications for depression.

[Suicide ideation among college students in Chongqing.].

OBJECTIVE: To describe the prevalence and risk factors for suicide ideation among college students in Chongqing city. METHODS: Data on suicide ideation and related factors were collected from 9808 college students at 11 colleges randomly selected in Chongqing. A multiple logistic regression model was used to identify risk factors for suicide ideation. RESULTS: 1279 (13.0%) of the 9808 students reported suicide ideation and the constituent ratio of boys and girls was 3:4 while risk factors for suicide ideation were ranked as follows: high frequency of feeling hopeless in prior year (OR = 5.07, 95%CI: 4.27 - 6.02); having psychological problems in recent 1 month that affecting daily lives and learning (2.07, 1.79 - 2.38); relatives having suicide behavior (1.77, 1.52 - 2.08); having had sexual experience (1.95, 1.65 - 2.30); being female (1.66, 1.45 - 1.90) and friends who had had suicide attempts (1.46, 1.28 - 1.67); having diseases in the last 1 month that affecting daily lives and learning (1.29, 1.08 - 1.52). CONCLUSION: The prevalence of suicide ideation among these college students was high that calls the development, implementation and assessment of suicide prevention plans for college students that focusing on the risk factors identified for suicide ideation.

[Analysis on factors affecting the severity of post-traumatic stress disorder in transferred casualty after Earthquake].

OBJECTIVE: To investigated the related factors which affecting the severity degrees of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in transferred casualty after Wenchuan Earthquake. METHODS: Taking PTSD symptoms self-assessment scale (PCL-C) to involve 386 wounded who suffered 40 days after the earthquake disaster, from 11 hospitals and were transferred to Chongqing city. Multi-stage cluster sampling method was used. 354 valid questionnaires were recovered to explore the relevant factors affecting the severity on the symptoms of PTSD. RESULTS: This survey contains 354 subjects, with male 154 (43.6%), female 200 (56.4%), age 43.76 +/- 21.22, nation alities: Han people 236 (66.7%), Qiang people 114 (32.2%), others 4 (1.1%), and marriage status as unmarried 92 (26.1%), married 253 (71.7%), others 9 (2.2%). The wounded women PTSD have more serious symptoms than men, and there were differences between them in repeated and disturbing dreams of this stressful experience (t = 2.46, P = 0.014), a strong sense of psychological suffering annoyance (t = 2.02, P = 0.044), having difficulty concentrating (t = 2.04, P = 0.042), being "super-alert" (t = 2.465, P = 0.014) etc, also in the total scores (t = 2.489, P = 0.013) (P < 0.05). The PTSD symptoms of wounded degree in who had been buried in Earthquake were more serious than those not been buried. There were significant differences between them in the items as: avoid thinking about or talking about a stressful experience (t = 2.661, P = 0.008), avoid activities or situations that could recall the stressful experience (t = 2.705, P = 0.007), trouble remembering important parts of a stressful experience (t = 2.775, P = 0.006), feeling emotionally numb or being unable to have loving feelings for those close to you (t = 3.017, P = 0.003), feeling as if your future will somehow be cut short (t = 2.979, P = 0.003) and total scores (t = 3.175, P = 0.002). The wounded that witnessed someone be buried or died in earthquake, in PTSD symptoms, were more serious than those without. In the items of feeling distant or cut off from other people, feeling emotionally numb or being unable to have loving feelings for those close to you, feeling irritable or having angry outbursts, there were significant difference (P < 0.05 - 0.01). There were significant differences among the average score of the three core symptoms (F = 3.350, P < 0.001), among the three core symptoms as well as between the three core symptoms and total score respectively. CONCLUSION: There were differences in the severity degrees of PTST in transferred casualty under different exposed conditions. Correlations were also found between each of the symptoms.