Improvement effect of Gastrodia elata and Ganoderma lucidum Jiaosu on insomnia mice induced by p-chlorophenylalanine

To explore the improvement effect of Gastrodia elata and Ganoderma lucidum Jiaosu on insomnia mice, a mouse insomnia model was constructed using p-chlorophenylalanine (PCPA). The improvement effects of the G. elata and G. lucidum Jiaosu on insomnia mice were investigated from the aspects of sleep onset rate, sleep latency, sleep prolongation time, neurotransmitter levels, oxidative stress and inflammatory factors, pathological sections and intestinal microbiota changes. The results showed that compared with the model group, the sleep onset rate of mice in each dose group of the G. elata and G. lucidum Jiaosu increased with the increasing of dose concentration, and the sleep time was significantly prolonged (P<0.05), with the prolongation rates of the low, medium, high group being 60.33%, 70.58%, and 71.68% respectively. The sleep latency was significantly shortened (P<0.05), with shortening rates of 18.15%, 34.3%, and 39.53% respectively. Compared to the model group, the content of serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) in the high-dose group increased remarkably significantly (P<0.001), while the contents of NO and interleukin-1 β (IL-1β) decreased remarkably significantly (P<0.001). The contents of 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) in the brain tissue of mice in the high-dose group were highly significantly increased (P<0.01), and GABA content increased significantly (P<0.05). The G. elata and G. lucidum Jiaosu could regulate the diversity of intestinal flora in insomnia mice, reduce the abundance of Firmicutes, and increased the abundance of Bacteroidetes. By adjusting the Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio, it was found that neurotransmitters, inflammation and oxidative stress factors in insomnia mice were correlated with the composition of the intestinal flora. In conclusion, The G. elata and G. lucidum Jiaosu had an improving effect on insomnia mice induced by PCPA.