Abstract

PHARMACOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF LEAF EXTRACT OF MORINGA OLEIFERA (MORINGACEAE) AS AN ANTIDEPRESSANT – AGENTS USING RODENT MODELS OF DEPRESSION

Abhishek Marwrai, Ashish Kumar Verma*, Salman, Pooja Rani and Akanksha Awasthi

ABSTRACT

Depression is a disorder often manifested with symptoms at the psychological, behavioral and physiological levels. Herbal medicine holds a valuable place in the treatment of depression. It is also a reasonable alternative for developing novel drugs. Accordingly, 70% Hydroethanolic extract of the leaf of Moringa oleifera (Moringaceae) and its solvent fractions were assessed for their antidepressant-like effect using despair based models of depression including tail suspension test (TST) and forced swim test (FST). Animals were randomly assigned to six groups, (n=6). Negative control group received 2% Tween 80, whereas positive control group received imipramine (30mg/kg). The test groups received 125 mg/kg, 225mg/kg and 500 mg/kg of the Hydroethanolic extract of Moringa oleifera. The leaf extract at the doses of 500 mg/kg reduced the time of immobility in the TST and FST. This result suggest that this plant holds a potential value for the management of depression.

Keywords: Anti-depression, Moringa oleifera, Mice, Imipramine.