Sickness behaviour is a coordinated set of adaptive behavioural changes that develop in ill individuals during the course of an
infection. It is relevant to understanding depression and some aspects of the suffering that in
cancer.
Embelin has been reported to possess antiinflammatory, neuroprotective and
anxiolytic assets and has been shown to inhibit nuclear factor κB pathway and
cytokine production. The present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of
embelin isolated from Embelia ribes Burm in
lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced sickness behaviour in mice. Adult male Swiss albino mice were pre-treated with
embelin (10 and 20 mg/kg, p.o.) or
dexamethasone (1 mg/kg, i.p.) for 3 days and then challenged with LPS (400 µg/kg, i.p.). At different time intervals of post-LPS challenge, sickness behaviour was evaluated in the animals by battery of behavioural tests (plus maze, open field, light-dark box, forced swim, social behaviour assessment,
sucrose preference and food and water intake). Levels of oxidative stress makers (
reduced glutathione and lipid peroxidation) in mice brain were also analysed. LPS induced behavioural alterations,
anhedonia and
anorexia, in mice. Pre-treatment with
embelin attenuated behavioural changes induced by LPS. In addition,
embelin prevented
anhedonia,
anorexia and ameliorated brain oxidative stress markers. The experimental outcomes of the present study demonstrated protective effect of
embelin in LPS-induced sickness behaviour in mice. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.