Publication:

Evaluation of Antidepressant activity of the Phytexponent Preparation

Background: Depression is a common ailment that is spread globally and it affects both younger and older generations. The spreading rate of this disease has been on the rise in the recent years. The reports indicates about 4.4 % of the entire global population was affected with depression by the year 2015. About 5 % of the adult population was those with 60 years of age and above. Suicidal thoughts are the major experienced thoughts among many people under depression in the recent days. The conventional antidepressant have shown to be limited in managing depression. This is has been due to the poor understanding of the onset mechanism of depression. Additionally the conventional drugs are only designed for specific mechanism of action and the mechanism of occurrence of depression is complex hence choice of a suitable conventional drug is a challenge. Alternative therapies that involve use of herbal remedies are currently employed in treatment of depression. Plants are potential agents based on their ability to act through different mechanisms as a result of the different bioactive constituents. For this reason the plant based remedies are able to treat various diseases that occur through various biological pathways. Objective: This study aimed at evaluating the antidepressant activity of the phytexponent preparation, a natural plant based product. Methods: The forced swim test and tail suspension test were used as the models for evaluating the antidepressant activity. Fluoxetine at dose level of 20 mg/kg bw was used as the standard antidepressant drug for both models. Phytexponent preparation was evaluated at three dose levels 100%, 50 % and 25% respectively. The positive control drug and phytexponent were prepared in normal saline and orally administered 60 minutes prior to the study. The immobility time in both the test was used as an indicator of depression. The depressive like conditions were induced by suspending the animal at a given height and allowing the mice swim in a controlled container respectively. Results: The results showed that fluoxetine was able to increase the mobility of the mice in the tail suspension test as compared to the phytexponent. The immobility time of fluoxetine was 2.643±0.0633 and of phytexponent both models hence reducing depression. 3.547±0.4334, 3.327±0.5519 and for 100 %, 50 % and 25% respectively in the tail suspension test. In the forced swim test, fluoxetine recorded immobility time of 2.448±0.0.2951 and phytexponent 2.375±0.2.980, 1.975±0.02179 and 2.733±0.09196 minutes for 100 %, 50 % and 25% respectively. The phytexponent at 50 % dose level recorded the best antidepressant activity. Conclusion: In conclusion, the study has shown phytexponent has antidepressant properties and it can be used as a potential herbal remedy for depression like conditions.