Edaravone Ameliorates Depressive and Anxiety-like Behaviors via Sirt1/Nrf2/HO-1/Gpx4 Pathway

Abstract

Abstract Background: The inflammation and oxidative stress (OS) have been considered crucial components of the pathogenesis of depression. Edaravone (EDA), a free radical scavenger, processes strong biological activities including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective properties. However, its role and potential molecular mechanisms in depression remain unclear. The present study aimed to investigate the antidepressant activity of EDA and its underlying mechanisms. Methods: A chronic social defeat stress (CSDS) depression model was performed to explore whether EDA could produce antidepressant effects. C57BL/6J mice were intraperitoneally injected with EDA or Vehicle daily for 10 days. Behaviors tests were then carried out to examine depressive, anxiety-like and cognitive behaviors including social interaction (SI) test, sucrose preference test (SPT), open field test (OFT), elevated plus maze (EPM), novel object recognition (NOR), tail suspension test (TST) and forced swim test (FST). Hippocampal and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) tissues were collected for Nissl staining, immunofluorescence, targeted energy metabolomics analysis, measurement of MDA, SOD, GSH and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Western blotting (WB) and quantitative real time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) detected the Sirt1/Nrf2/HO-1/Gpx4 signaling pathway. Knockdown experiments were performed to determine the effects of Gpx4 on CSDS mice with EDA treatment by an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector containing miRNAi(GPX4)-EGFP infusion. Results: The administrated of EDA dramatically ameliorated CSDS-induced depressive and anxiety-like behaviors. Additionally, EDA notably attenuated neuronal loss, microglial activation, astrocyte dysfunction, oxidative stress damage and energy metabolism in the hippocampus (Hip) and mPFC of CSDS-induced mice. Further examination indicated that the application of EDA after the CSDS model significantly increased the protein expressions of Sirt1, Nrf2, HO-1 and Gpx4 in the Hip. In addition, Gpx4 knockdown in CSDS mice abolished EDA-generated efficacy on depressive and anxiety-like behaviors. Conclusion: These findings suggest that EDA possesses potent antidepressant and anxiolytic properties through Sirt1/Nrf2/HO-1/Gpx4 axis and Gpx4-mediated ferroptosis may play a key role in this effect.