BEHAVIORAL EVIDENCE OF ANTIDEPRESSANT-LIKE ACTIVITY OF L. VAR. IN MICE.

Background: Currently-available antidepressant agents produce various adverse effects, and are expensive. At present, various plants are being evaluated for their possible role against numerous diseases, and no doubt, the role of traditional and complementary medicines in the development of effective therapy is incredible. The present study was designed to evaluate antidepressant-like activity of L. Var. at different doses in mice.

Materials And Methods: Antidepressant potential of ethanolic extract of L. was evaluated at three different doses 250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg by using forced swim test and tail suspension test on albino male mice. The results were compared with control and standard mice groups administered with normal saline and Fluoxetine respectively. In both parameters immobility period was recorded two times during 60 days dosing.

Results: The ethanol extract at all three tested doses (250 mg/kg, 500 mg/kg and 1000 mg/kg) and standard fluoxetine demonstrated notable antidepressant-like activity (p<0.05) in both FST and TST paradigms.

Conclusion: Our results clearly show that ameliorate depression-like behavior in rodent model, and can be used to establish newer antidepressant approaches in future. However, mechanism-based studies are needed to establish the mechanistic action of L. EERC Ethanol Extract of FST Forced swim test: TSTTail suspension test.