Antidepressant Effects of a Hydroalcoholic Extract of Rosa Canina L. on the Depression inDuced by Reserpine in Balb/c mice

Recent studies have shown that oxidative stress is a major cause of depression. Rosa canina L. is a fruit that contains different antioxidant compounds. The present study was conducted to investigate the antidepressant effects of a hydroalcoholic extract of Rosa canina L. on male mice using the behavioral tests of forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST).

The present experimental study randomly assigned 42 mice to 6 groups of 7, i.e. the control (normal saline), the reserpine (negative control), the fluoxetine (positive control) and three reserpine groups intraperitoneally treated with 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of the hydroalcoholic extract of Rosa canina L. Depression was evaluated using the FST and TST. The total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels of the brain were also measured. The data were analyzed in SPSS using One-Way ANOVA. P<0.05 was set as the level of stastistical significance.

The FST and TST showed that reserpine significantly increased the duration of immobility. The immobility duration was significantly (P<0.001) reduced by 400 mg/kg of the extract in the two behavioral tests. Reserpine also significantly decreased the TAC and increased MDA levels in the brain. The TAC was significantly increased and MDA levels significantly decreased by 200 mg/kg (P<0.05) and 400 mg/kg (P<0.001) of the extract.

The present findings confirmed the antidepressant activity of Rosa canina L. potentially mediated by its antioxidant components and resembling that of fluoxetine .