Abstract

EFFECTS OF SIMULTANEOUS ADMINISTRATIONS OF CURCUMA LONGA EXTRACTS AND SNRI- REBOXETIN ON 2-WEEK, CHRONIC, ORAL, ONCE DAILY ADMINISTRATIONS IN ANIMALS: A RESEARCH STUDY

Gohil Kashmira J.*

ABSTRACT

Curcuma longa (CL), an indigenous medicinal herb is widely utilized globally for its therapeutic properties. Recently, the growing number of herbal preparations of CL in market raised the possibility of interactions with allopathic drugs which may cause significant toxicity with additive, synergistic or antagonistic effects on simultaneous use. Objective: A potential interaction between Curcuma longa extract (CLE) and reboxetine (Rx) was investigated on 2-week, chronic, oral, once daily administration in rats and mice.
Materials and methods: Healthy, male albino, Wistar rats and mice were divided in to eight groups of six each. Control group-I was administered distilled water. Group II received drug Rx-20 mg/kg/day.
Group III, IV and V received standardized water soluble CLE containing 0.5% of curcumin in doses of 140, 280 and 560 mg/kg/day, respectively, While groups VI and VII and VIII received combinations of Rx-20 along with CLE in three different doses. Spontaneous motor activity (SMA), motor coordination, forced swimming test (FST), tail suspension test (TST) and chronic fatigue tests (CFT) were evaluated. Biochemical parameters were checked in blood and homogenized brain tissue. Results: Treatment groups VI, VII and VIII receiving combinations showed dose dependent reduction in duration of immobility in FST, and CFT and increased levels of noradrenaline in brain homogenates of animals compared to that of control and the groups treated with either of them alone. Conclusion: The combination of CLE and Rx proved to be therapeutically synergistic. Potential interactions of the herb with newer conventional antidepressants are matter of further study.

Keywords: Herbal drug interactions, Curcuma longa, Synthetic antidepressants, SNRI reboxetin.