Abstract
The currently available antidepressant agents necessitate the development of newer alternatives because of their serious adverse effects and costs. Traditional medicinal knowledge is likely the key that opens the door to discover new medicines. In Turkish folk medicine, the infusion prepared from aerial parts of Micromeria myrtifolia Boiss. & Hohen is used as pleasure and medicinal tea for its relaxing action. The present research was conceived to confirm the antidepressant’s potential of this traditional medicinal plant. In this process, first of all, the collected and shade-dried aerial parts of M. myrtifolia were powdered and then, extracted using solvents with different polarity as follows; n-hexane, ethyl acetate (EtOAc), and methanol (MeOH). The antidepressant activity of the extracts was evaluated by using several in vivo and in vitro experimental models of depression. When the data obtained from the control and experimental groups were compared, it was determined that the MeOH extract was the most active. The active components of this extract were isolated and identified utilizing various chromatographic separation techniques. The MeOH extract was applied to reversed phase (RP-18) column chromatography to obtain five main fractions and they were tested on antidepressant activity models. The isolated compounds from the obtained fractions were elucidated as rosmarinic acid (1), myricetin (2), apigenin (3), and naringenin (4) which were assumed to be responsible for the antidepressant activity of the aerial parts. According to the results, rosmarinic acid, myricetin, apigenin, and naringenin showed statistically significant activity on forced swimming test and tetrabenazine-induced ptosis models, whereas only rosmarinic acid showed statistically significant activity on the tail suspension test. Apigenin displayed the highest inhibitory activity on MAO A and B enzymes. Studies in the future should be performed to investigate the antidepressant activity mechanism of these natural compounds. The current research could be an important step in the development of the new agents that can be used in the treatment of depression.
Highlights
Depression is a widespread chronic psychiatric complaint which interferes with social life and work performance
In the forced swimming test (FST), the inactivity seen in mice exhibits the behavioral despair seen in humans and conventional antidepressant drugs make a reduction in the duration of inactivity time [34]
The phenolic compounds, which are among these phytochemicals, were divided into several sub-groups, including phenolic acids, flavonoids, chromones, coumarins, anthraquinones, stilbenes and lignans, based on the changes in their chemical structures [40]
Summary
Depression is a widespread chronic psychiatric complaint which interferes with social life and work performance. Depression is a mental disease associated with the interaction of psychological, social and biological factors. The development of this mood disorder can be triggered by several etiological factors, including personal and environmental conditions, genetic and biochemical parameters [4]. Differences in brain chemicals, low self-confidence personality, and stressful life conditions may contribute to the onset of depression. It is characterized by several symptoms such as the feeling of hopelessness or worthlessness; changes in appetite, weight and sleep patterns; fatigue; increased agitation and decreased interest in pleasurable stimuli. The levels of monoamine neurotransmitters namely serotonin, noradrenaline, and dopamine; corticotrophin-releasing factor; corticotrophin-releasing hormone; cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone, and the actions of hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal (HPA) axis, adenylyl cyclase, and monoamine oxidase (MAO) are main biomarkers for diagnosis [11]
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