Antidepressant-like effects of seeds of Citrullus lanatus in the reserpine-induced depressed mouse model

Abstract

Depression is a mental health disorder that affects millions of people worldwide. Plants and their products are widely used in the treatments of various diseases including depression for their therapeutic effectiveness with least or no side effects. The present study has therefore been conducted to evaluate the antidepressant like effects of Citrullus lanatus seed extract (CLSE) in the reserpine-induced depressed mouse model by assessing the phytoconstituents of CLSE, body weight, behaviour, histopathology of the adrenal gland and level of plasma corticosterone. Twenty-four adult male mice of Swiss strain were distributed into four groups of six each (n=6). Group I served as control while groups II, III and IV received reserpine (RES: 0.75mg/kg/BW/day) for 14 days, CLSE (300mg/kg/BW/day) only, for 28 days, and RES+CLSE [RES treatment for 14 days followed by CLSE treatment for 28 days], respectively. Behavioural alterations were analysed by food consumption, sucrose preference, eight-arm radial maze, and forced swim tests during the treatment. RES-induced depression caused marked alterations in the body weight, all behavioural parameters, histopathology of the adrenal cortex, and in the level of plasma corticosterone, compared with the control. Administration of CLSE only, did not cause significant alterations in all the studied parameters, compared with the control. However, CLSE administration in RES-treated mice resulted in significant restoration in all the studied parameters, similar to the control. The findings therefore suggest the antidepressive activity of the seeds of C. lanatus, that may emerge as one of the potential sources among the natural therapies of depression disorder.