ANTI-DEPRESSANT POTENTIAL OF GHIYA

Abstract

Lagenaria siceraria (Cucurbitaceae), popularly known as bottle gourd, lauki or ghiya, is a climbing plant, which bears hard-shelled and bottle-shaped gourds as fruits. Ghiya forms an excellent diet for people having digestive problems being rich in vitamins, iron and minerals. Since, it contains low calories, bottle gourd is an awesome foodstuff for shedding extra calories. The fruit possesses diuretic, emetic, and refrigerant properties. The ghiya (lauki) juice is helpful in constipation, premature graying hair, urinary disorders and insomnia. However, there are no reports in literature pertaining to CNS actions of Lagenaria siceraria fruit. In the light of above, the present study was undertaken to test the anti-depressant potential of Lagenaria siceraria juice (LSJ). Lagenaria siceraria juice was administered at various concentrations ranging from 4%-16% v/v orally to Swiss mice (30g), once daily for 15 successive days. The anti- depressant activity was measured using Forced Swim Test (FST) and Tail Suspension Test (TST). The efficacy of Lagenaria siceraria was compared to standard anti-depressant drugs viz: fluoxetine (20mg/kg, p.o), imipramine (15mg/kg, p.o) and phenelzine (20 mg/kg, p.o). Lagenaria siceraria significantly reduced the immobility time of mice in both FST and TST. Prazosin, Baclofen, Sulpiride and p-CPA significantly antagonized this reduction in immobility duration. Furthermore, Lagenaria siceraria juice inhibited the monoamine oxidase (MAO) enzyme and reduced significantly malondialdehyde (MDA) levels. These findings reveal the anti-depressant potential of ghiya.