Extract of sesame cake and sesamol alleviate chronic unpredictable mild stress-induced depressive-like behaviors and memory deficits

Depression is a worldwide severe psychiatric disease associated with cognitive impairments. The aims of the present study are to investigate the preventive effects of alcoholic extract of sesame (Sesanuan indicum L.) cake (SLE) and sesamol in a chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS)-induced mouse model. Oral administration of SLE (600 mg/kg/day) and sesamol (10 mg/kg/day) significantly restored CUMS-induced mice antidepressant like behaviors, anhedonia, and anxiety. Importantly, supplementation of SLE and sesamol inhibited oxidative stress and improved serotonin levels in depressed mice brain. Moreover, SLE and sesamol treatment significantly prevented CUMS-induced memory loss in Y-maze and water-maze tests, which was consistent with enhanced the size of postsynaptic densities and postsynaptic density protein 95 (PSD-95) expression in mice hippocampus. These results illustrated that SLE and sesamol markedly improved CUMS-induced depression and memory loss, and provided novel insights into the mechanisms of sesamol and sesame crude extract on the regulation CUMS-induced depression and cognitive impairments.