Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Nov 13;9(11):e22251.
doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e22251. eCollection 2023 Nov.

Antidepressant effect of licorice total flavonoids and liquiritin: A review

Ruyu Wang  1   2 , Yiwei Chen  1   2 , Zhiying Wang  1   2 , Baorui Cao  1   2 , Jinxin Du  3 , Tingting Deng  3 , Meina Yang  1   2 , Jinxiang Han  1   2
Affiliations
Review

Antidepressant effect of licorice total flavonoids and liquiritin: A review

Ruyu Wang et al. Heliyon. .

Abstract

With the development of society and changes in lifestyle, major depressive disorder (MDD) has become a significant disease that plagues many people. Licorice, an excellent natural medicine with a long history of cultivation and application, is found in classical antidepressant prescriptions such as Chaihu Shugan Powder, Ganmai Dazao Decoction, Suanzaoren Decoction, etc. Licorice mainly contains triterpenoids and flavonoids, among which licorice total flavonoids (LF) and liquiritin are the main active components with good antidepressant effects. The pharmacological effects of licorice have been extensively investigated in current studies. However, a review of the antidepressant effects of LF and liquiritin has not been conducted. This article reviews the antidepressant effects of LF and liquiritin, including the biological characteristics of licorice and the pharmacological mechanism of LF and liquiritin in treating MDD. Studies have shown that LF and liquiritin can exert their antidepressant effects by improving depressive behavior, regulating endocrine and hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function, affecting the brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)/tyrosine kinase B (TrkB) signaling pathway, enhancing synaptic plasticity, increasing monoamine neurotransmitter levels, protecting nerve cells, reducing inflammation, preventing apoptosis, reducing oxidation and other ways. This lays a theoretical foundation for the development of antidepressant drugs.

Keywords: Antidepressant; Licorice total flavonoids; Liquiritin; Major depressive disorder.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
(a) Flavanone, flavone, flavonol, and chalcone structure from licorice. (b) Isoflavone, isoflavanone, isoflavan, and isoflavene structure from licorice. Note: Based on the pictures provided by Wu et al., 2022, Hindawi. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/9523071.
Fig. 1
Fig. 1
(a) Flavanone, flavone, flavonol, and chalcone structure from licorice. (b) Isoflavone, isoflavanone, isoflavan, and isoflavene structure from licorice. Note: Based on the pictures provided by Wu et al., 2022, Hindawi. https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/9523071.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
The antidepressant mechanism of Licorice. NF-κB: nuclear factor-k-gene binding; BDNF: brain-derived neurotrophic factor; TrkB: tyrosine kinase receptor B; pTrkB: protein tyrosine kinase receptor B; CRH: corticotropin releasing hormone; ACTH: adrenocorticotropic hormone; CORT: Corticosterone; 5-HT: 5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HIAA: 5-hydroxyindole acetic acid; NE: Norepinephrine; SYP: synapsin; PSD-95: PSD-95 Polyclonal Antibody; IL-1β: interleukin-1β: IL-6: interleukin-6; SOD: superoxide dismutase; MDA: malonaldehyde; FGF-2: fibroblast growth factor 2; TNF-α: tumor necrosis factor-α; Bcl-xl: B-cell lymphoma-xl; Bcl-2: B-cell lymphoma-2; Bax: Bcl-2 associated protein X; iNOS: inducible nitric oxide synthase (enzyme); COX-2: Cyclooxygenase-2; PPAR-γ: peroxisome proliferators-activated receptor-γ.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Yeung K.S., Hernandez M., Mao J.J., Haviland I., Gubili J. Herbal medicine for depression and anxiety: a systematic review with assessment of potential psycho-oncologic relevance. Phytother Res. 2018;32:865–891. doi: 10.1002/ptr.6033. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Shankman S.A., Mittal V.A., Walther S. An examination of psychomotor disturbance in current and remitted MDD: an RDoC study. J Psychiatr Brain Sci. 2020:5. doi: 10.20900/jpbs.20200007. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Murray C.J., Lopez A.D. Alternative projections of mortality and disability by cause 1990-2020: global burden of disease study. Lancet. 1997;349:1498–1504. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(96)07492-2. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Ferrari A.J., Charlson F.J., Norman R.E., Patten S.B., Freedman G., Murray C.J., Vos T., Whiteford H.A. Burden of depressive disorders by country, sex, age, and year: findings from the global burden of disease study 2010. PLoS Med. 2013;10 doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.1001547. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Da X.L., Yue L.F., Li X.J., Chen J.B., Yuan N.J., Chen J.X. Potential therapeutic effect and methods of traditional Chinese medicine on COVID-19-induced depression: a review. Anat. Rec. 2021;304:2566–2578. doi: 10.1002/ar.24758. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources