Fig 2: Effect of Xiaoyaosan on behavior and the expression of RAGE in depressive-like mice. (A) Schematic overview of experimental approach and time line. (B) The value of body weight changes in mice. (C–E) Mice behavioral tests. (C) Sucrose preference test (SPT); (D) tail suspension test (TST); and (E) force swimming test (FST). (F) The expression of BDNF in serum of mice. (G–H) Western blot and semi-quantitative results of RAGE in Cg of mice. (I) The mRNA fold change of RAGE in Cg of mice was detected by qPCR. One-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni’s post hoc test; ***p < 0.001, CUMS group vs. Control group; # p < 0.05, ## p < 0.01 and ### p < 0.001, CUMS group vs. XYS group; △ p < 0.05, △△△ p < 0.001, CUMS group vs. FH group; error bars indicate mean ± SEM.

Fig 3: Optical microscope images of the hippocampus a–c and representative magnification images of dendritic spines of each experimental group d–e. g–j. Quantification of dendritic spines of each 30 µm of dendrite in different areas of the hippocampus (n = 5). Groups were compared against each other using one-way ANOVA and Tukey post-test, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01, *** p < 0.001 and **** p < 0.0001 k. Representative images of synaptic proteins levels were determined, where two representative samples out of four or five per group are shown (n = 4–5). Graphs barts represent mean ± SD. Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-test, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01 and *** p < 0.001. l. Quantification of BDNF protein levels in the cortex (n = 7). Data were analyzed by one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-test, ** p < 0.01