Abstract: The aim of this research was to explore the anti-depression effect of frankincense essential oil and its possible mechanism.Chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) model was established and the model mice were intraperitioneally injected with the essential oil on the same day.The open-field test,forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspending test (TST) were then carried to observe and evaluate the ethological changes in model mice.By using HPLCECD,content of 5-HT in brain was determined.The results revealed that frankincense essential oil with the concentration of 0.1,0.2 mL/100 g can influence behaviors of mice differently,including the increase of the frequency of crossing in the open-field test and the decrease of the motionless time in the FST.Besides,both concentration of frankincense essential oil increased the content of 5-HT in brain significantly (P<0.05).The results suggested that frankincense essential oil has anti-depression effect which may be related to the regulation of 5-HT in brain.

Key words: Frankincense essential oil, the chronic unpredictable mild stress, depression behavior, anti-depression effect, 5-HT