How The Team Prepared the Research and What is Meaning of the Research
Anti-depressant and Anti-Neuroinflammatory Effects of Bangpungtongsung-San
By Namwook Cho L.Ac.
Fang Feng Tong Sheng San (Siler & Platycodon Formula), which has long been used for weight control, was proven that administration of the formula could induce an antidepressant-like effect in reserpine-induced depression.
The research, “Anti-depressant and Anti-Neuroinflammatory Effects of Bangpungtongsung-San (BTS),” was recently published in frontiers in Pharmacology. Bangpungtongsung-San is Korean pronounciation of Fang Feng Tong Sheng San.
The research team led by Mi Young Lee, Clinical Medicine Division, Korea Institute of Oriental Medicine, Daejeon, South Korea, used the herbal formula on mice to confirm whether the formula could replace conventional anti-depressant medicine.
The team observed and recorded behavioral changes of immobilization time, Tail suspension test, forced swimming test, and mood-hormone changes of the mice after administration BTS. The test result showed that BTS significantly reduced possible causes of depression.
Dr. Lee explained that “tour results show that administration of BTS can induce an antidepressant-like effect in reserpine-induced depression and BTS could improve treatment for depression.”
Bangpungtongsung-San (BTS) (Fang Feng Tong Sheng San, Siler & Platycodon Formula) has long been used for hypertension, obesity, allergic rhinitis, and atherosclerosis. Recently the research paper,
“Anti-depressant and Anti-Neuroinflammatory Effects of Bangpungtongsung-San (BTS),” found a possible hope for replacing conventional anti-depressant.
Major depressive disorder (MDD) has a lifetime prevalence of around 15% ~ 25% worldwide and is among the highest-ranked diseases according to the World Health Organization (WHO) disease burden ranking.
So far, the efficacy and safety of anti-depressants have been a problem to resolve.
Anti-depressants are known to cause side effects such as dizziness, sedation, anticholinergic side effects, weight gain, sexual dysfunction, neurological side effects, cardiovascular effects, insomnia, and anxiety.
The team prepared the BTS for the test with Angelica gigas, Paeonia lactiflora, Cnidium officinale, Gardenia jasminoides, Forsythia viridissima, Mentha arvensis, Zingiber officinale, Schizonepeta tenuifolia, Saposhnikovia divaricata, Ephedra sinica, Rheum undulatum, Natrii sulfas, Atractylodes
japonica, Platycodon grandiflorum, Scutellaria baicalensis, Glycyrrhiza uralensis, Talcum, and Gypsum at ratios of 1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1:1.25:1.25:1.675:1.675:1.675: 1.675:1.675:2.5 (total weight = 2.421 kg) was extracted in boiling water for 3 hours.
For the open field test (OFT), an open field arena (30 × 30 cm) was constructed from acrylic sheets, and each mouse was placed in the center of the field. The mice were individually transferred to the test field, and their behaviors were recorded for 10 min. For the tail suspension test (TST), both acoustically and visually isolated mice were suspended 50 cm above the floor by adhesive tape placed approximately 1 cm from the tip of the tail. Immobility time was recorded during the last 4 min of a 6-min session using video tracking software. For the forced swimming test (FST), mice underwent a 15-min swimming session the day before the test. Total immobility time was measured during the last 4 min of a 6-min swim using the same video tracking software as in the TST. Mice underwent behavioral testing in the following order, with a 6-hour interval between each experiment: OFT, TST, FST.
