Fig. 2

Effects of berberine on serum cytokines and neuroinflammatory responses in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. a Timing of CORT administration, behavioral tests, and western blotting and ELISA assay. b Effects of berberine on serum cytokine level of IL-6. The CORT significantly increased the IL-6 concentration compared to the mice in control and high-dose berberine groups (One-way ANOVA, F (3, 8) = 13.80, P = 0.0016; Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test, CORT vs. Control, P = 0.0020, CORT vs. BBR200, P = 0.0021, n = 3 in each group). c Effects of BBR on serum cytokine level of IL-1β. The CORT significantly increased the IL-1β concentration (One-way ANOVA, F (3, 8) = 147.1, P < 0.0001; Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test, all comparisons P < 0.0001, n = 3 in each group). d Effects of berberine on serum cytokine level of TNF-α. The CORT significantly increased the TNF-α concentration (One-way ANOVA, F (3, 8) = 46.96, P < 0.0001; Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test, all comparisons P < 0.0001, n = 3 in each group). e Effects of berberine on serum cytokine level of IL-10. The CORT significantly decreased the IL-10 concentration (One-way ANOVA, F (3, 8) = 253.1, P < 0.0001; Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test, all comparisons P < 0.0001, n = 3 in each group). f The effects of berberine on cytokine level in prefrontal cortex measured by western blot. The CORT mice showed the significant different in four cytokines (Two-way ANOVA, row factor F (3, 41) = 26.78, P < 0.0001, column factor F (3, 41) = 13.61, P < 0.0001; Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test, CORT vs. Control, P < 0.0001, CORT vs. BBR100, P < 0.0001, CORT vs. BBR200, P = 0.0003, n = 3 in each group). g The effects of berberine on cytokine level in hippocampus measured by western blot. The CORT mice showed the significant different in four cytokines (Two-way ANOVA, row factor F (3, 41) = 18.07, P < 0.0001, column factor F (3, 41) = 8.34, P = 0.0002; Dunnett’s multiple comparisons test, CORT vs. Control, P = 0.0007, CORT vs. BBR100, P = 0.0010, CORT vs. BBR200, P = 0.0003, n = 3 in each group). Bar graphs show the mean ± SEM; *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001. CORT corticosterone, BBR berberine, ANOVA analysis of variance, ELISA enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay