In Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), the prescription Baihe - Zhimu Tang has been using to treat depression for hundreds of years. However, its underlying mechanism is still unclear. Saponin compounds extracted from TCM have been reported to exert antidepressant-like effect. In present study, we investigated the efficacy and mechanism of Saponin extract from Baihe - Zhimu Tang (SBZT) in treating depression. Results confirmed that SBZT can act as an anti-depressant agent in a murine model of depression-like abnormality. SBZT demonstrated significant efficacy in ameliorating depression-like behaviors and the abnormal levels of pathological markers associated with depression. While, based on microarray analysis, we found the mechanisms were related to its inhibition activity on hypothalamic-pituitaryadrenal axis hyperactivation, improvement ability in synthesis and transport processes of neurotransmitters and neuroprotection upon inflammation-related neuronal apoptosis. In conclusion, SBZT demonstrated significant efficacy in treating depression, suggesting its clinical potential as an anti-depressant TCM agent.

在中医（TCM）中，百和-止母汤方药已用于治疗抑郁症数百年。但是，其潜在机制仍不清楚。据报道，从中药中提取的皂苷具有抗抑郁作用。在本研究中，我们研究了百和-知母汤（SBZT）皂苷提取物治疗抑郁症的功效和机制。结果证实，SBZT可以在抑郁症样异常的小鼠模型中充当抗抑郁药。SBZT在改善抑郁症样行为和与抑郁症相关的病理标志物异常水平方面显示出显着的功效。同时，基于微阵列分析，我们发现其机制与其抑制下丘脑-垂体-肾上腺肾上腺轴过度活化有关，改善神经递质的合成和运输过程的能力以及对炎症相关的神经元凋亡的神经保护作用。总之，SBZT在治疗抑郁症方面显示出显着的疗效，表明其作为抗抑郁中药的临床潜力。