Vol. 6, Issue 5 (2017)

Author(s):
Susheela Somappa Halemani, Abhishek Acharya, Sohith Anand, Cg Gokul, Prabhakar Adake and Santhosh

Abstract:
Decrease in the levels of monoamine neurotransmitters and oxidative stress are important factors involved in pathogenesis of depression. Morus alba (white mulberry) leaves contain flavonoids which are known to inhibit catechol-o-methyl transferase (COMT) and mono amine oxidase (MAO) and have free radical scavenging property and may prove beneficial for the treatment of depression. The study was done to evaluate the antidepressant potential of aqueous extract of leaves of Morus alba and compare it with Imipramine. The study included 48 male swiss albino mice which were divided into four treatment groups of 6 animals each. Antidepressant property was evaluated by using two different models of depression viz. Tail suspension test and Forced swimming test. Mice were injected with normal saline (control), Imipramine (standard), Morus alba 100 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg (test drugs) intraperitoneally in both the test models. Duration of immobility was observed for 6 minutes in tail suspension test and for 4 minutes in forced swimming test on separate set of animals. Results were analyzed by ANOVA followed by post hoc tukey’s test. Aqueous extract of Morus alba, at the above doses significantly reduced the immobility time in both the tests compared to control (p< 0.001). The reduction in duration of immobility at the dose of 200 mg/kg was comparable to Imipramine. The study showed that aqueous extract of leaves of Morus alba has significant antidepressant activity in acute models of depression.