Antidepressant activity of Indian Hypericum perforatum Linn in rodents (original) (raw)

Indian journal of experimental biology

A standardised 50% aqueous ethanolic extract of Indian Hypericum per/oratum (IHp) was in vcs ti gated for it s an tidcpressant activity on various experimental paradigms of depression, viz. behavioural despair (BD), learned helpl ess ness (LH), tail suspension (TS) and reserpine-induced hypothermia (RIH) tests in rats and mice. Pilot studies indicated th at single dose administration of IHp had very little or no acute behavioural effects, hence the IHp was administered orally at two dose levels (100 and 200 mg/kg, po) once daily for three consecutive days, while imipramine ( 15 mg/kg, ip), a clini cally used antidepressant agent, was administered acutely to rats (CF strain, 150±IOg) and mice (Wistar strain, 23±2g) or either sex as the standard drug. Controls animals were treated similarly with equal volume of vehicle (0.3% carboxymethyl ce llulose). Indi an Hypericum peljoratlllll extract showed significant antidepressant activity on all the paradigms or depressio n used. Thus IHp and imipramine treatments significantly reduced the immobility time in BD and TS tests. Significant redu ction in escape failures was also observed in LH test. In RIH test IHp and imipramine inhibited reserpi ne induccd hypothermia in a dose dependent manner. The observed antidepressant activity of IHp was qualitatively comparable to that induced by imipramine.

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