Silymarin and silymarin nanoparticles guard against chronic unpredictable mild stress induced depressive-like behavior in mice: involvement of neurogenesis and NLRP3 inflammasome.

Background: The neuropathology of depression is quite complex. Thus, treatment failures are frequent with current antidepressants, raising the need for more effective ones.

Aims: This study aimed to investigate the influence of silymarin on depressive-like behavior induced by chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) and explore the underlying mechanisms.

Methods: Silymarin was formulated as nanostructured lipid carriers (a lipid-based type of nanoparticle with the advantages of physical stability, good release profile, and targeted delivery). Mice were subjected to CUMS paradigm during 14 days. During this period, mice received silymarin (200 mg/kg, p.o.) per se or in its nanoparticle form or fluoxetine (10 mg/kg, p.o.). On the 15th day behavioral and biochemical parameters were analyzed.

Results: Oral administration of silymarin (200 mg/kg), particularly in its nanoparticulate form, exerted an antidepressant-like effect, comparable with fluoxetine in mice, as demonstrated in the behavioral despair tests. Silymarin also reversed prefrontal cortical and hippocampal CUMS-induced oxidative stress and neuroinflammation. Furthermore, silymarin augmented neurotransmitter levels, enhanced neurogenesis and inhibited nod-like receptor protein 3 inflammasome activation. Silymarin nanoparticles were superior to silymarin in certain parameters probably due to significantly higher brain silybinin (the major active component of silymarin) concentration by 12.46 fold in the group administered silymarin nanoparticles compared with the mice which were administered silymarin per se.

Conclusions: The antidepressant-like effect of silymarin can be attributed to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory effects as well as increased neurogenesis in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus, which delineates silymarin, especially in nanoparticle form, as a promising strategy for treatment of depression.