Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides increase serotonin in the brain and ameliorate depression via promoting 5-hydroxytryptophan production in the gut microbiota.
- Author:
Zheng-Wei ZHANG
1
;
Chun-Sheng GAO
2
;
Heng ZHANG
3
;
Jian YANG
4
;
Ya-Ping WANG
4
;
Li-Bin PAN
1
;
Hang YU
1
;
Chi-Yu HE
1
;
Hai-Bin LUO
5
;
Zhen-Xiong ZHAO
1
;
Xin-Bo ZHOU
6
;
Yu-Li WANG
2
;
Jie FU
1
;
Pei HAN
1
;
Yu-Hui DONG
3
;
Gang WANG
4
;
Song LI
5
;
Yan WANG
1
;
Jian-Dong JIANG
1
;
Wu ZHONG
6
Author Information
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords: 5-Hydroxytryptophan; 5-Hydroxytryptophan decarboxylase; Depression; Drug metabolism; Gut microbiota; Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides; Serotonin; Tryptophan hydroxylase
- From: Acta Pharmaceutica Sinica B 2022;12(8):3298-3312
- CountryChina
- Language:English
- Abstract: Morinda officinalis oligosaccharides (MOO) are an oral drug approved in China for the treatment of depression in China. However, MOO is hardly absorbed so that their anti-depressant mechanism has not been elucidated. Here, we show that oral MOO acted on tryptophan → 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) → serotonin (5-HT) metabolic pathway in the gut microbiota. MOO could increase tryptophan hydroxylase levels in the gut microbiota which accelerated 5-HTP production from tryptophan; meanwhile, MOO inhibited 5-hydroxytryptophan decarboxylase activity, thus reduced 5-HT generation, and accumulated 5-HTP. The raised 5-HTP from the gut microbiota was absorbed to the blood, and then passed across the blood-brain barrier to improve 5-HT levels in the brain. Additionally, pentasaccharide, as one of the main components in MOO, exerted the significant anti-depressant effect through a mechanism identical to that of MOO. This study reveals for the first time that MOO can alleviate depression via increasing 5-HTP in the gut microbiota.
