28 June 2022, Published on Phytomedicine (IF 6.656) © Elsevier GmbH.
Fast life style causes people in a state of potential sleep deprivation. Firstly, let you check whether your sleep is deprived or not, please. Chronic sleep deprivation is defined as less than 5 h sleep per day for 3 days or more. After sleep deprivation, many symptom will come to knock your door; for example, the mental health will gradually deteriorate, the reaction will gradually become slow, and the appetite will decrease, etc. In severe cases, it may cause serious diseases such as cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, and gastrointestinal hemorrhage at the physical level; as well, it is easy to induce anxiety disorders and other symptoms at the mental level.
Poria cocos has been used as a medicine in China since ancient times. It has also been shown an excellent effect on treating anxiety disorders, but the mechanism is not clear. Recently, Chinese researchers analyzed the chemical composition of the water extract of Poria cocos, and observed the improvement of anxiety behavior in rats with chronic sleep deprivation when they were treated with water extract of Poria cocos. The study was published in Phytomedicine on July 13, 2022.
Studies showed that 62 kinds of triterpenoids were found in the water extract of Poria cocos. Triterpenoids are the main functional substances on anti-cancer and anti-tumor. In this study, the water extract of Poria cocos significantly improved the hypothalamic neurotransmitters and depressed the proteins expression of tumor necrosis factor. In addition, chronic sleep deprivation causes changes in intestinal flora, and the water extract of Poria cocos improved the species diversity and abundance of intestinal flora in rats with anxiety. In the process of treatment, it was found that the water extract of Poria cocos had an effect on the metabolism of vitamin B6, various amino acids, and glycerophospholipid. To sum, the water extract of Poria cocos significantly improved the anxiety behavior caused by chronic sleep deprivation through regulating intestinal flora and metabolic disorders.
Zhang, D., Li, H., Luo, X., Liu, D., Wei, Q., & Ye, X. (2022). Integrated 16S rDNA, metabolomics, and TNF-α/NF-κB signaling pathway analyses to explain the modulatory effect of Poria cocos aqueous extract on anxiety-like behavior. Phytomedicine, 104, 154300.
