半夏瀉心湯是個廣泛被使用於治療腸胃疾病與問題的傳統中醫藥草藥。有研究指出，其治療機理牽連到大腦中樞神經系統中的神經傳導物質之改變。本研究進行的主要目的為探討半夏瀉心湯水萃取液在動物絕望行為模式中是否有類似抗憂鬱效果的現象。實驗結果顯示，半夏瀉心湯水萃取液在強迫游泳試驗及懸尾試驗中可以明顯地減少小鼠的靜止時間，表現出類似抗憂鬱的效果，但是其效果比不上臨床上使用的抗憂鬱藥物，desipramine。同時，廣闊空間試驗結果顯示，這些靜止時間的減少並不是因為藥物擁有刺激運動功能所引起的。另外，在行為模式中半夏瀉心湯水萃取液也可以顛倒reserpine引起的靜止時間增加功能。由此，我們可以初步的推論半夏瀉心湯水萃取液的機制是與大腦中樞神經系統中的神經傳導物質有關。

Banxiaxiexin decoction is a widely used traditional Chinese herbal medicine for the treatment of gastric and intestinal diseases. Some studies showed that its therapeutic mechanism included the alteration of serotonin and norepinephrine neurotransmitters concentration in the central nervous system (CNS). The present studies were conducted in order to investigate the probability of antidepressant-like effect of the aqueous extract of banxiaxiexin decoction in mice models of behavioral despair. Experimental results showed that the water extract of banxiaxiexin decoction significantly decreased mice’s duration of immobility time in forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST), but it was not as effective as the clinically-used desipramine (DES, at concentration of 15mg/kg). In addition, open field test (OFT) results implied that the decrease of the duration of immobility time in FST and TST were not due to the locomotor activity stimulant effect of the water extract. Furthermore, the water extract of banxiaxiexin decoction also reversed the reserpine-induced increase of immobility time in FST and TST. These results indicate that the water extract of banxiaxiexin decoction exhibits an antidepressant-like effect through the alteration of the concentration of monoamine neurotransmitters in CNS.

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