Abstract
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical endocrine disruptor to which humans are often exposed in daily life. Postnatal administration of BPA results in schizophrenia (SCZ)-like behaviours in rats. The present study was designed to elucidate whether treatment with astragaloside IV (ASIV) or saponins extracted from Astragalus spinosus improves the neurobehavioural and neurochemical disturbances induced by BPA. Fifty-two juvenile (PND20) male Sprague Dawley rats were divided into four groups. The rats in Group I were considered the control rats, while the rats in Group II were orally administered BPA (125 mg/kg) daily from PND20 to adult age (PND117). The rats in the third and fourth groups were administered BPA (125 mg/kg/day) supplemented with astragaloside IV (80 mg/kg/d) on PND20 or A. spinosus saponins (100 mg/kg/d) from PND50 to PND117, respectively. Administration of ASIV and saponins extracted from Astragalus spinosus reversed the anxiogenic and depressive-like behaviours and the social defects that were observed in the rats treated with BPA alone. Additionally, these compounds improved memory impairments, restored dopamine (DA), serotonin (5-HT), and monoamine oxidase (MAO-A) levels and normalized Tph2 mRNA expression towards the control values. Taken together, it can be concluded that orally administered ASIV and A. spinosus saponins exhibit neuroprotective effects and that these compounds can be used as therapeutic strategies against BPA-induced neuropsychiatric symptoms in a rat model of SCZ.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abbas G, Naqvi S, Erum S, Ahmed S, Dar A (2013) Potential antidepressant activity of Areca catechu nut via elevation of serotonin and noradrenaline in the hippocampus of rats. Phytother Res 27:39–45
Ahbab MA, Barlas N, Karabulut G (2017) The toxicological effects of bisphenol A and octylphenol on the reproductive system of prepubertal male rats. Toxicol Ind Health 33:133–146
Bahaeddin Z, Yans A, Khodagholi F, Sahranavard S (2016) Neuroprotection and anxiety like behavior reduction of Allium hirtifolium and Astragalus hamosus in the Aβ-injected rat. Res J Pharmacogn 3:39–49
Castro B, Sánchez P, Torres JM, Ortega E (2013) Effects of adult exposure to bisphenol A on genes involved in the physiopathology of rat prefrontal cortex. PLoS One 8:1–33
Charles PD, Ambigapathy G, Geraldine P, Akbarsha MA, Rajan KE (2011) Bacopa monniera leaf extract up-regulates tryptophan hydroxylase (TPH2) and serotonin transporter (SERT) expression: implications in memory formation. J Ethnopharmacol 134:55–61
Datta C, Bhattacharjee A (2020) Role of monoamine oxidase A (MAO-A) in cardiac aging. J Cardiol Cardiovasc Sci 4:31–40
Donegan JJ, Lodge DJ (2017) Cell-based therapies for the treatment of schizophrenia. Brain Res 1655:262–269
Dong D, Yin L, Qi Y, Xu L, Peng J (2015) Protective effect of the total saponins from Rosa laevigata michx fruit against carbon tetrachloride-induced liver fibrosis in rats. Nutrients 7:4829–4850
Dunn BD, German RE, Khazanov G, Xu C, Hollon SD, DeRubeis RJ (2020) Changes in positive and negative affect during pharmacological treatment and cognitive therapy for major depressive disorder: a secondary analysis of two randomized controlled trials. Clin Psychol Sci 8:36–51
Fan Y, Ding S, Ye X, Manyande A, He D, Zhao N, Yang H, Jin X, Liu J, Tian C, Xu S (2013) Does preconception paternal exposure to a physiologically relevant level of bisphenol A alter spatial memory in an adult rat? Horm Behav 64:598–604
Gao T, Yin Z, Wang M, Fang Z, Zhong X, Li J, Hu Y, Wu D, Jiang K, Xu X (2020) The effects of pubertal exposure to bisphenol-A on social behavior in male mice. Chemosphere 244:1–11
Gong M, Huai Z, Song H, Cui L, Guo Q, Shao J, Gao Y, Shi H (2017) Effects of maternal exposure to bisphenol A on emotional behaviors in adolescent mice offspring. Chemosphere 187:140–146
Goto S, Ogi H, Fushiki S, Itoh K (2017) Prenatal and lactational bisphenol A exposure does not alter serotonergic neurons morphologically in the murine dorsal raphe nucleus. Brain and Development 39:475–482
Graziani V, Scognamiglio M, Esposito A, Fiorentino A, D’Abrosca B (2019) Chemical diversity and biological activities of the saponins isolated from Astragalus genus: focus on Astragaloside IV. Phytochem Rev 18:1133–1166
Gross M, Pinhasov A (2016) Chronic mild stress in submissive mice: Marked polydipsia and social avoidance without hedonic deficit in the sucrose preference test. Behav Brain Res 298:25–34
Gui D, Huang J, Guo Y, Chen J, Chen Y, Xiao W, Liu X, Wang N (2013) Astragaloside IV ameliorates renal injury in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats through inhibiting NF-kB-mediated inflammatory genes expression. Cytokine 61:970–977
Haq MEU, Akash MSH, Sabir S, Mahmood MH, Rehman K (2020) Human exposure to bisphenol A through dietary sources and development of diabetes mellitus: a cross-sectional study in Pakistani population. Environ Sci Pollut Res 1:1–14
Hu BY, Liu XJ, Qiang R, Jiang ZL, Xu LH, Wang GH, Li X, Peng B (2014) Treatment with ginseng total saponins improves the neurorestoration of rat after traumatic brain injury. J Ethnopharmacol 155:1243–1255
Hu F, Li T, Gong H, Chen Z, Jin Y, Xu G, Wang M (2017) Bisphenol A impairs synaptic plasticity by both pre-and postsynaptic mechanisms. Adv Sci 4:1–11
Huang XP, Tan H, Chen BY, Deng CQ (2012) Astragalus extract alleviates nerve injury after cerebral ischemia by improving energy metabolism and inhibiting apoptosis. Biol Pharm Bull 35:449–454
Ionkova I, Shkondrov A, Krasteva I, Ionkov T (2014) Recent progress in phytochemistry, pharmacology and biotechnology of Astragalus saponins. Phytochem Rev 13:343–374
Kamal M, Arif M, Jawaid T (2017) Adaptogenic medicinal plants utilized for strengthening the power of resistance during chemotherapy: a review. Orient Pharm Exp Med 17:1–18
Khadrawy YA, Noor NA, Mourad IM, Ezz HSA (2016) Neurochemical impact of bisphenol A in the hippocampus and cortex of adult male albino rats. Toxicol Ind Health 32:1711–1719
Khan J, Salhotra S, Ahmad S, Sharma S, Abdi SA, Banerjee BD, Parvez S, Gupta S, Raisuddin S (2018) The protective effect of α-lipoic acid against bisphenol A-induced neurobehavioral toxicity. Neurochem Int 118:166–175
Kinch CD, Ibhazehiebo K, Jeong JH, Habibi HR, Kurrasch DM (2015) Low-dose exposure to bisphenol A and replacement bisphenol S induces precocious hypothalamic neurogenesis in embryonic zebrafish. Proc Natl Acad Sci 112:1475–1480
Li KP, Pan TL, Bi YG, Lin RQ (2008) Study on quantitative analysis and extraction of total saponins from Schefflera arboricola Hayata. Chem Indust Forest Prod 28:99–102
Li ML, Gulchina Y, Monaco SA, Xing B, Ferguson BR, Li Y, Li F, Hu X, Gao W (2017) Juvenile treatment with a novel mGluR2 agonist/mGluR3 antagonist compound, LY395756, reverses learning deficits and cognitive flexibility impairments in adults in a neurodevelopmental model of schizophrenia. Neurobiol Learn Mem 140:52–61
Liu Y, Liu J, Wang Y, Abozeid A, Tang ZH (2016a) Simultaneous determination of six active metabolites in Astragalus mongholicus (Fisch.) Bge. under salt stress by ultra-pressure liquid chromatography with tandem mass spectrometry, vol 5. Springer Plus, Berlin, pp 1–11
Liu MY, Zhang LJ, Liu MC (2016b) Effect of ginsenoside pre-treatment on 5-hydroxytryptamine system in SD rats with myocardial infarction and depression. Zhonghua Nei Ke Za Zhi 55:700–704
Liu W, Xu Z, Yang T, Xu B, Deng Y, Feng S (2017) Memantine, a low-affinity NMDA receptor antagonist, protects against methylmercury-induced cytotoxicity of rat primary cultured cortical neurons, involvement of Ca2+ dyshomeostasis antagonism, and indirect antioxidation effects. Mol Neurobiol 54:5034–5050
Lu M, Tang F, Zhang J, Luan A, Mei M, Xu C, Zhang S, Wang H, Maslov LN (2015) Astragaloside IV attenuates injury caused by myocardial ischemia/reperfusion in rats via regulation of toll-like receptor 4/nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway. Phytother Res 29:599–606
Luo L, Deng S, Yi J, Zhou S, She Y, Liu B (2017) Buyang Huanwu decoction ameliorates post stroke depression via promoting neurotrophic pathway mediated neuroprotection and neurogenesis. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2017:1–9
Mathisen GH, Yazdani M, Rakkestad KE, Aden PK, Bodin J, Samuelsen M, Nygaard UC, Goverud IL, Gaarder M, Løberg EM, Bølling AK (2013) Prenatal exposure to bisphenol A interferes with the development of cerebellar granule neurons in mice and chicken. Int J Dev Neurosci 31:762–769
Matsuda S, Saika S, Amano K, Shimizu E, Sajiki J (2010) Changes in brain monoamine levels in neonatal rats exposed to bisphenol A at low doses. Chemosphere 78:894–906
Matsuda S, Matsuzawa D, Ishii D, Tomizawa H, Sutoh C, Nakazawa K, Amano K, Sajiki J, Shimizu E (2012) Effects of perinatal exposure to low dose of bisphenol A on anxiety like behavior and dopamine metabolites in brain. Prog Neuro-Psychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 39:273–279
Matsuda S, Matsuzawa D, Ishii D, Tomizawa H, Sajiki J, Shimizu E (2013) Perinatal exposure to bisphenol A enhances contextual fear memory and affects the serotoninergic system in juvenile female mice. Horm Behav 63:709–716
McCutcheon RA, Marques TR, Howes OD (2020) Schizophrenia—an overview. JAMA Psych 77:201–210
Mohammed ET, Hashem KS, Ahmed AE, Aly MT, Aleya L, Abdel-Daim MM (2020) Ginger extract ameliorates bisphenol A (BPA)-induced disruption in thyroid hormones synthesis and metabolism: Involvement of Nrf-2/HO-1 pathway. Sci Total Environ 703:1–48
Nguyen LT, Farcas AC, Socaci SA, Tofana M, Diaconeasa ZM, Pop OL, Salanta LC (2020) An overview of saponins—a bioactive group. Bull UASVM Food Sci Technol 77:25–36
Onwukaeme DN, Ikuegbvweha TB, Asonye CC (2007) Evaluation of phytochemical constituents, antibacterial activities and effect of exudate of Pycanthus Angolensis weld warb (Myristicaceae) on corneal ulcers in rabbits. Trop J Pharm Res 6:725–730
Osborne AL, Solowij N, Babic I, Huang XF, Weston-Green K (2017) Improved social interaction, recognition and working memory with cannabidiol treatment in a prenatal infection (poly I: C) rat model. Neuropsychopharmacol 42:1447–1457
Owen MJ, O’Donovan MC (2017) Schizophrenia and the neurodevelopmental continuum: evidence from genomics. World Psychiatry 16:227–235
Oyekunle MA, Aiyelaagbe OO, Fafunso MA (2006) Evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of saponins extract of Sorghum bicolor L. Moench. Afr J Biotechnol 5:2405–2407
Palsa D, Begum N, Kommidi J, Singh K, Yellu M, Bakshi V (2016) Neuroprotective effect of pterostilbene on ketamine induced schizophrenia in mice. Int J Appl Pharm Sci Res 1:96–103
Pandey S, Singh B, Mahdi AA (2013) Therapeutic potential of noo-tropic Bacopa monnieri in prevention and treatment of diseases: an overview. Int J Innov Sci Res 1:12–24
Raja GL, Lite C, Subhashree KD, Santosh W, Barathi S (2020) Prenatal bisphenol-A exposure altered exploratory and anxiety-like behaviour and induced non-monotonic, sex-specific changes in the cortical expression of CYP19A1, BDNF and intracellular signaling proteins in F1 rats. Food Chem Toxicol 1:1–50
Rosenfeld CS (2015) Bisphenol A and phthalate endocrine disruption of parental and social behaviors. Front Neurosci 9:1–15
Rozisky JR, Laste G, Medeiros LF, dos Santos VS, Adachi LS, de Macedo IC, Caumo W, Torres IL (2014) Morphine treatment in neonate rats increases exploratory activities: reversal by antagonist D2 receptor. J Adv Med Med Res 2014:351–367
Saied NM, Hassan WA (2014) Long-term exposure to xenoestrogens alters some brain monoamines and both serum thyroid hormones and cortisol levels in adult male rats. J Basic Appl Zool 67:205–211
Schlumpf M, Lichtensteiger W, Langemann H, Waser PG, Hefti F (1974) A fluorimetric micromethod for the simultaneous determination of serotonin, noradrenaline and dopamine in milligram amounts of brain tissue. Biochem Pharmacol 23:2337–2346
Shaw LH, Chen WM, Tsai TH (2013) Identification of multiple ingredients for a traditional Chinese medicine preparation (bu-yang-huan-wu-tang) by liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. Molecules 18:11281–11298
Shawky E, Selim DA (2017) Evaluation of the effect of extraction solvent and organ selection on the chemical profile of Astragalus spinosus using HPTLC-multivariate image analysis. J Chromatogr B 1061:134–138
Singh S, Khanna D, Kalra S (2020) Role of neurochemicals in schizophrenia. Curr Psychopharmacol 9:144–161
Sivaraman D, Panneerselvam P, Muralidharan P (2016) Memory and brain neurotransmitter restoring potential of hydroalcoholic extract of Ipomoea aquatica forsk on amyloid beta Aβ (25–35) induced cognitive deficits in Alzheimer's mice. Int J Pharmacol 12:52–65
Sultana R, Ogundele OM, Lee CC (2019) Contrasting characteristic behaviours among common laboratory mouse strains. R Soc Open Sci 6:1–15
Sun A, Xu X, Lin J, Cui X, Xu R (2015) Neuroprotection by saponins. Phytother Res 29:187–200
Uddin MS, Al Mamun A, Kabir MT, Nasrullah M, Wahid F, Begum MM, Labu ZK, Rahman MS, Islam MT, Amran MS, Abdel-Daim MM (2018) Neurochemistry of neurochemicals: messengers of brain functions. Intellect Disabl Diagn J 5:137–151
Verma N, Khosa RL (2009) Effect of Costus speciosus and Wedelia chinensis on brain neurotransmitters and enzyme monoamine oxidase following cold immobilization stress. J Pharm Sci Rese 1:22–25
Wang C, Niu R, Zhu Y, Han H, Luo G, Zhou B, Wang J (2014) Changes in memory and synaptic plasticity induced in male rats after maternal exposure to bisphenol A. Toxicol 322:51–60
Weinstein SD, Villafane JJ, Juliano N, Bowman RE (2013) Adolescent exposure to bisphenol-A increases anxiety and sucrose preference but impairs spatial memory in rats independent of sex. Brain Res 529:56–65
Wiersielis KR, Samuels BA, Roepke TA (2020) Perinatal exposure to bisphenol A at the intersection of stress, anxiety, and depression. Neurotoxicol Teratol 1:1–11
Wu T, Li X, Li T, Cai M, Yu Z, Zhang J, Zhang Z, Zhang W, Xiang J, Cai D (2018) Apocynum venetum leaf extract exerts antidepressant-like effects and inhibits hippocampal and cortical apoptosis of rats exposed to chronic unpredictable mild stress. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med 2018:1–8
Xie W, Meng X, Zhai Y, Zhou P, Ye T, Wang Z, Sun G, Sun X (2018) Panax notoginseng saponins: a review of its mechanisms of antidepressant or anxiolytic effects and network analysis on phytochemistry and pharmacology. Molecules 23:1–18
Xin F, Fischer E, Krapp C, Krizman EN, Lan Y, Mesaros C, Snyder NW, Bansal A, Robinson MB, Simmons RA, Bartolomei MS (2018) Mice exposed to bisphenol A exhibit depressive-like behavior with neurotransmitter and neuroactive steroid dysfunction. Horm Behav 102:93–104
Xu XB, Fan SJ, He Y, Ke X, Song C, Xiao Y, Zhang WH, Zhang JY, Yin XP, Kato N, Pan BX (2017) Loss of hippocampal oligodendrocytes contributes to the deficit of contextual fear learning in adult rats experiencing early bisphenol A exposure. Mol Neurobiol 54:4524–4536
Zhang Y, Guo YQ, Li XX, Ruan JY, Wang TT, Li J, Han LF, Yu HY, Wang T (2016) Rearranged oleanane type saponins, astraisoolesaponins A1–A3 and B, from the stems of Astragalus membranaceus (Fisch.) Bge. var. mongholicus (Bge.) Hsiao. Tetrahedron 72:7008–7013
Zhang Z, Deng T, Wu M, Zhu A, Zhu G (2019) Botanicals as modulators of depression and mechanisms involved. Chin Med 14:1–10
Zhang H, Wang Z, Meng L, Kuang H, Liu J, Lv X, Pang Q, Fan R (2020a) Maternal exposure to environmental bisphenol A impairs the neurons in hippocampus across generations. Toxicol 432:1–10
Zhang J, Wu C, Gao L, Du G, Qin X (2020b) Astragaloside IV derived from Astragalus membranaceus: a research review on the pharmacological effects. In: Pharmacological Advances in Natural Product Drug Discovery, vol 87. Elsevier Inc, Amsterdam, pp 89–112
Zhou R, Chen F, Feng X, Zhou L, Li Y, Chen L (2015) Perinatal exposure to low-dose of bisphenol A causes anxiety-like alteration in adrenal axis regulation and behaviors of rat offspring: A potential role for metabotropic glutamate 2/3 receptors. J Psychiatr Res 64:121–129
Zhu F, Zhang L, Ding YQ, Zhao J, Zheng Y (2014) Neonatal intrahippocampal injection of lipopolysaccharide induces deficits in social behavior and prepulse inhibition and microglial activation in rats: Implication for a new schizophrenia animal model. Brain Behav Immun 38:166–174
Availability of data and materials
All the data and material were available. The data of this article are included within the article and its additional files.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Contributions
Heba-Tallah Abd Elkader was responsible for the idea, performed experiments and made the statistical analysis of the data, Dr. Heba Mohamed Abdou was responsible for the design of the study. Heba-Tallah Abd Elkader, Dr. Heba Mohamed Abdou, Dr. Omaima Ahmed Abdel-Maguid Khamiss and Dr Amina Essawy Essawy are responsible for writing and revising the manuscript. Also, all authors have read and approved the manuscript.
Corresponding author
Ethics declarations
Ethics approval and consent to participate
All the experimental and animal handling procedures were performed according to the guidelines approved by Alexandria University Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (ALEXU-IACUC), a member of the International Council for Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS) (Approval number: AU04200125201).
Consent for publication
All co-authors agree to publish this manuscript in the Journal (Environmental pollution and research)
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing interests.
Additional information
Responsible Editor: Mohamed M. Abdel-Daim
Publisher’s note
Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Abd Elkader, HT.A.E., Abdou, H.M., Khamiss, O.A. et al. Anti-anxiety and antidepressant-like effects of astragaloside IV and saponins extracted from Astragalus spinosus against the bisphenol A-induced motor and cognitive impairments in a postnatal rat model of schizophrenia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 35171–35187 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12927-5
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-12927-5