ANTIDEPRESSANT ACTIVITY OF AQUEOUS EXTRACTS OF FRUITS OF TERMINALIA CHEBULA AND PHYLLANTHUS EMBLICA IN BEHAVIOURAL MODELS OF DEPRESSION: INVOLVEMENT OF MONOAMINERGIC SYSTEM

Objectives: Terminalia chebula (TCh) and Phyllanthus emblica (PE) posses wide range of central nervous system activity. This study was conducted to investigate the antidepressant activity and mechanism action of aqueous extract of TCh & PE using forced swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). Methods: Aqueous extracts of TCh (390, 780 & 1560mg/kg) and PE (390, 780, 1560 & 3120 mg/kg) were administered for seven days to mice and immobility time was measured in FST & TST. Extracts were administered for 14 days and immobility time was measured in chronic FST. The mechanisms of antidepressant effect of TCh and PE were studied using prazosin (1mg/kg), levosulpiride (20mg/kg) and p-CPA (300mg/kg) in TST. Results: In FST, 780 & 1560 mg/kg of TCh and 1560 & 3120 mg/kg of PE reduced immobility time while in TST, 1560 mg/kg of TCh and 3120 mg/kg of PE decreased immobility significantly compared to control. In chronic FST, only 780 & 1560 mg/kg of TCh showed significant reduction. Antidepressant effect of TCh was reversed by prazosin while antidepressant effect of PE was reversed by prazosin and levosulpiride significantly in TST. Conclusions: The aqueous extracts of TCh and PE possess antidepressant activity at higher doses. This effect was possibly mediated through mono aminergic pathways