Could Lycopene – a Plant Extract – be an Effective Antidepressant?
Emerging evidence suggests that lycopene—a natural plant extract—may have antidepressant properties. New research in Food Science & Nutrition reveals the mechanisms behind its antidepressant effects.
Lycopene is a carotenoid, related to beta-carotene and gives some vegetables and fruits (eg, tomatoes, grapefruit) a red colour. Lycopene is a powerful antioxidant that might help protect cells from damage.
In mice with depressive-like behaviours, brain analyses revealed impairments in the hippocampus. Lycopene treatment lessened these impairments and reversed the animals’ depressive-like traits.
Lycopene treatment boosted the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), a protein with roles in many aspects of brain function. Experiments indicated that a signalling pathway involving BDNF (called the BDNF-TrkB pathway, which helps regulate learning, memory, and communication between neurons) is inhibited in mice with depression, and that lycopene treatment alleviates this inhibition.
The study “offers an effective avenue for the development of novel antidepressant therapies,” the authors wrote. “We plan to conduct further verification in future studies and include multiple brain regions in our research.”
Source: Wiley
