- 1Department
of Pharmacology, Shobhaben Pratapbhai Patel School of Pharmacy and
Technology Management, SVKM'S NMIMS, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.
- 2Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
The
prevalence of mental depression has increased in recent years, and has
become a serious health problem in most countries of the world,
including India. Due to the high cost of antidepressant synthetic drugs
and their accompanying side effects, the discovery of safer
antidepressant herbal
remedies is on the rise. Moringa oleifera (MO) (drumstick) has been
used in traditional folk medicine, and in Ayurveda, it is considered as a
valuable remedy for treating nervous system disorders as well as memory
enhancing agent.
OBJECTIVE:
The
present study was designed to evaluate the acute and chronic behavioral
and antidepressant effects of alcoholic extracts of MO leaves in
standardized mouse models of depression.
MATERIALS AND METHODS:
Alcoholic
extracts of MO (MOE) leaves were prepared, and phytoconstituents were
determined using appropriate chemical analytical methods. Following
preliminary dose-finding toxicity studies, the biological activity of
MOE was tested in Swiss albino mice. Animals were divided into six
groups: Groups 1 and 2 served as vehicle control and fluoxetine (20
mg/kg) standard control, respectively. Groups 3 and 4 served as
treatment groups and were orally administered ethanolic MOE at doses of
100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg, respectively. Groups 5 and 6, respectively,
received combination doses of MOE 100 mg/kg + 10 mg fluoxetine, and MOE
200 mg/kg + 10 mg/kg fluoxetine. Following acute and 14 days chronic
treatments, all animals were tested using behavioral models of
depression, such as forced swim test (FST), tail suspension test (TST),
and locomotor activity test (LAT).
RESULTS:
Significant
changes in all tested activities (FST, TST, LAT) of chronically dosed
mice were observed, especially in animals given simultaneously combined
doses of 200 mg/kg/day MOE + 10 mg/kg/day fluoxetine for 14 days. The
antidepressant effect of MOE may have been invoked through the
noradrenergic-serotonergic neurotransmission pathway, which is the
hallmark of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) class of
drugs.
CONCLUSION:
The
results obtained in this study suggest that combined administration of
MOE with low doses of fluoxetine or other SSRI drugs seems to have
promising potential.
KEYWORDS:
Fluoxetine; Moringa oleifera; forced swim test in mice; locomotor activity; tail suspension test
