Table 4.

Pharmacological function of quercetin on depression.

In vitro and in vivo model	Quercetin Dose	Mechanism	Effect factors	References
Male ICR mice	15, 35mg/kg 4 w	Promotes adult hippocampal neurogenesis via FoxG1/CREB/BDNF signaling pathway	FoxG1, p-CREB and BDNF↑	(109)
Rats	10, 50mg/kg 8 w	Reduces oxidative stress, inhibited inflammation, and regulated a variety of neurotransmitter systems.	MAO, IL-1β and TNF-α↓ Cu-Zn SOD, GSH-Px, CAT and GSH↑	(118)
mice	2, 0.5g/kg 8 w	Antidepressant and cardioprotective effects via BDNF-AKT/ERK1/2 signaling	BDNF-TrkB-AKT/ERK1/2↑	(113)
mice	2, 0.5 g/kg 6 w	Improves mice behavioral performance post CSDS. Decreases sEPSCs and sIPSCs	sEPSCs and sIPSCs↑	(110)
Mice	25 mg/kg 6 w	Antioxidant, anti-inflammatory activities, reduced excitotoxicity and augmented 5 HT levels.	TNF and IL-6↓ SOD, GSH, Catalase and 5 HT↑	(117)
depression in rats	40 mg/kg 8 w	Alleviates LPS-induced depression-like behaviors via regulating the BDN/Copine 6 and TREM1/2	TNF, IL-6, caspase-3↓	(112)
male wistar rat	60 mg/kg 24 h	Against chemotherapy-related complications	MDA, TNF, ROS/RNS↓ GSH	(114)
OBX-induced depression in male Wistar rats	40, 80 mg/kg 14 d	Suppression of oxidative–nitrosative stress-mediated neuroinflammation-apoptotic cascade	MDA↓ GSH, SOD↑	(120)
Olfactory bulbectomy (OB)	25mg/kg 14 d	Antioxidant effects contribute to its anti-depressive potential	LOOH↓ GSH, SOD↑	(119)

h, hours; d, days; w, weeks; FOXG1, Forkhead box transcription factor G1; CREB, cAMP response element binding protein; TrKβ, tyrosine receptor kinase A; SOD, superoxide dismutase; CAT, catalase; GSH-Px, glutathione peroxidase; TNF, tumor necrosis factor; IL-1β, interleukin-1 β; MDA, malondialdehyde; and BDNF, brain-derived neurotrophic factor. ↓ downregulation; ↑ upregulation.