Abstract: To study the purification technology of total flavonoids from Fissistigma oldhamii by macroporous adsorptive resins and evaluate its antidepression activity.The adsorption and desorption capacity of 5 resins (AB-8,HPD-600,HPD-826,X-5 and D4006) for total flavonoids was investigated to select the optimal macroporous resin.The adsorption characters and the influencing factors of the selected macroporous resin were also investigated to optimize the purification technology.The classical animal models of depression including the forced swimming of the mouse，tail suspension and open-field test were applied to evaluate the antidepressant-like effect of total flavonoids from F.oldhamii. The results demonstrated that AB-8 macroporous resin had the best property for the purification of total flavonoids.The optimized conditions were as follows:the flow rate was set at 1.0 mL/min,the elution reagent used was 50% ethanol,and the volume of elution was 8 BV.Under the optimized purification conditions,the content of total flavonoids was 57.3%.The result showed that administration at 100 mg/kg significantly reduced immobility time in TST (being P<0.01,P<0.05,respectively),and in FST (being P<0.01,P<0.05,respectively),but did not cause significant changes in crossing numbers compared to the vehicle group.AB-8 macroporous resin was suitable to refine total flavonoids from F.oldhamii. Total flavonoids from F.oldhamii showed a clear antidepression activity in different animal models of depression.

Key words: Fissistigma oldhamii, total flavonoids, macroporous resin, purification, antidepression activity