PHARMACOLOGICAL PROFILE, FORMULATION AND COMPARISION OF CITRULLUS LANATUS AS AN ANTI-DEPRESSANT

Background: Depressed mood is a feature of some psychiatric syndromes such as major depressive disorder, but it may also be a normal reaction to life events such as bereavement, a symptom of some bodily ailments or a side effect of some drugs and medical treatments.

Objective: To study systemic chemical investigation to be carried out on Citrullus lanatus as antidepressant and compared with standard drug .

Methods: Male Wistar rats weighing 250-300g were housed in groups of 4 and 6 animals. The animals were acclimatized for a period of 7 days before the study. The animals were forced to swim in a glass cylinder measuring 25cm height, 12cm diameter containing water at room temperature to a depth of 15cm. After an initial 2 minute period of vigorous activity, each animal assumed a typical immobile posture. The mouse was considered immobile when it remained floating in the water without struggling, making only minimum movements of its limbs necessary to keep its head above water. The total duration of immobility was recorded during last 4 minutes of total 6 minute test.

Results: In forced swim test a significant decrease in the duration of immobility was seen with standard drug fluoxetine and all test dose of CLE as compared to control. However the immobility time of higher dose of CLE was comparable with that of standard drug. It was observed that the extract shows dose dependent effect in immobility time. With increase of dose the immobility time decreased. Thus, it can be said that CLE shows anti-depressant effect.

In Tail Suspension Test there was a significant decrease in duration of immobility with that of standard drug when compared to control. The immobility time decreased with the increase of dose. The immobility time of standard drug and that of CLE higher extract are almost same showing the efficiency of the extract in its anti-depressant activity.

Conclusion: The antidepressant activity is attributed due to the presence of polyphenols, flavanoids in the extract. The effective components of Citrullus lanatus that have antidepressant-like effect includes S-adenosylmethionine, dopamine, b vitamins, 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-htp) and tryptophan. Hence its effect is almost similar to that of standard drug. 

Keywords: S-adenosylmethionine, dopamine, b vitamins, 5-hydroxytryptophan, tryptophan