ArticlePsychopharmacology2020
Purpurin exerted antidepressant-like effects on behavior and stress axis reactivity: evidence of serotonergic engagement.
Article in Psychopharmacology, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Natural Products as GPCR-Targeting Antidepressant Candidates: Advances and Opportunities.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Therapeutic potential of purpurin, a natural anthraquinone dye, in neuroprotection and neurological disorders.Inflammopharmacology · 2025Review
- Evaluation of the Sporadic Anti-Alzheimer's Activity of Purpurin Using In Silico, In Vitro, and In Vivo Approaches.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Article
- Neuroprotective Effects of Purpurin Against Ischemic Damage via MAPKs, Bax, and Oxidative Stress Cascades in the Gerbil Hippocampus.Molecular neurobiology · 2022Article
- Monoamine Oxidase Inhibition by Plant-Derived β-Carbolines; Implications for the Psychopharmacology of Tobacco and Ayahuasca.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2022Review
- The Inhibitory Activity of Anthraquinones against Pathogenic Protozoa, Bacteria, and Fungi and the Relationship to Structure.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
RATIONALE AND
objectivesMajor depression represents a significant public health problem worldwide, and effective regimen is lacking. The present study investigated the antidepressant-like effects of purpurin, a natural anthraquinone compound from Rubia tinctorum L., and explored the underlying mechanism(s).
methodsForced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) were used to assess antidepressant-like effects of purpurin in mice. Effects of purpurin on neuroendocrine responsivity were evaluated at the level of corticosterone and ACTH following acute restraint stress and intracerebroventricular injection of corticotrophin-releasing-factor (CRF). Serotonergic mechanisms underlying purpurin antidepressant effect were explored using biochemical, neurochemical, and pharmacological paradigms.
resultsChronic purpurin treatment exerted in mice dose-dependently antidepressant-like effects on behavior and stress axis reactivity (n = 9-11 per group). The purpurin-triggered antidepressant-like effects are serotonergically dependent, since purpurin-treated mice showed escalated levels of brain serotonin and suppressed monoamine oxidase (MAO) activity (n = 8-11 per group). Consistently, chemical depletion of brain serotonin by p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA) abolished the antidepressant-like effects of purpurin on behavior and stress axis responsivity (n = 9-10 per group). Moreover, the antidepressant effect by purpurin was preferentially counteracted by 1A-selective 5-HT receptor antagonist WAY-100635, but potentiated by 1A-selective agonist 8-OH-DPAT and sub-effective dose of serotonergic antidepressant fluoxetine (n = 9-11 per group), suggesting a crucial role for 5-HT
conclusionWe have revealed the antidepressant-like effects of purpurin on both behavior and stress axis reactivity in mice, with serotonergic system that preferentially couples with 5-HT
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.