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Antidepressant activity of rohitukine in rats

Vijai Lakshmi, Girja Shanker, Abbas Ali Mahdi, Santosh Kumar Agarwal

Depression is a serious and burden some psychiatric illness associated with high rates of chronicity, relapse and that is characterized generally, by pervasive low mood, anxiety, cognitive impairment, loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities and suicidal behaviors. Although a number of synthetic drugs are being used as the standard treatment for clinically depressed patients, they have adverse effects that can compromise the therapeutic treatment. These common adverse effects include drymouth, fatigue, gastrointestinal or respiratory problems, anxiety agitation, drowsiness, and cardiac arrhythmias. These conditions create an opportunity for alternative treatment of depression by use of medicinal plants. Dysoxylum binacteriferum is found to be highly effective against ovarian and breast cancer. Fewprevious studies showed that the anticancer activity of this plant is due to the rohitukine present in this plant. Rohitukinewas also found to show antiestrogenic effect in adult female rats. Despite so many biological activities reported in this plant. No systematic work on antidepressant activity was done so far. Thus, D.binecteriferum was subjected to preliminary antidepressant screening studies. In the present investigation, stem bark of the plant was extracted with 95% ethanol and the ethanol extract and rohitukine was isolated as a major compound. Rohitukine exhibited significant antidepressant activity at a dose of 100 mg/kg body weight in mice with respect to control as well as standard (Imipramine, 60 mg/kg).