Depression is a life-threatening chronic illness which affects people worldwide. Drugs used to treat this disease have multiple side effects and may cause drug-drug or drug-food interactions. Additionally, only 30% of patients respond adequately to the existing drugs and the remaining do not achieve complete recovery. Thus, finding effective treatments that have adequate efficacy, fewer side effects and lower cost seem to be necessary. The purpose of this study was to review animal and double-blind clinical studies on the anti-depressant effects of medicinal herbs. In this study, validated scientific articles indexed in PubMed, SID, Web of Science and Scopus databases were reviewed. A database search was performed using the following terms: clinical trials, depression, major depressive disorder, essential oil, extract and medicinal plant. Positive effects of a number of herbs and their active compounds such as St John’ s-wort, saffron, turmeric, ginkgo, chamomile, valerian, Lavender, Echium amoenum and Rhodiola rosea L. in improvement of symptoms of mild, moderate or major depression have been shown in clinical trials. The above plants show antidepressant effects and have fewer side effects than synthetic drugs. Hence, they have the potential to treat patients with depression.

Introduction: Depression has multifactorial characters including brain-behavioral disorders, alteration in cognitive psychomotor and emotional process. Millions of people are worldwide suffering from this illness. This disease happens in all ages of men and women. This research tries to introduce a traditional medication in comparison with common chemical anti-depressant drugs. This experiment was designed to evaluate probably the antidepressant effect of Citrullus colocynthis fruit extraction.Materials and methods: Thirty-two male mice (Balb/c) was randomly divided to four groups (n=8 each). Animals adapted and treated to diazepam, imipramine, aqueous and hydro alcoholic extract of Citrullus colocynthis fruit. All administrations were done via intraperitoneal 0.2ml/animal. Plant material after grinding was extracted with ethanol and evaporated under reduced pressure. Tail suspension test was carried out to assay the antidepressant effect of plant extraction in animals. The test was carried on before, and as well as 30, 60 and 120 minutes after injections.Results: Our data indicated that after intraperitoneal administration of aqueous and ethanol extract, immobility duration exhibits statistically significant increase compared to agitation phase in all times after injection (P<0.05). Ethanol extract reduced statistically agitation time in 30, 60 and 120 min after injection compared to imipramine. Both aqueous and ethanol extract elevated immobility in minute 60 (P<0.5).Conclusion: The present study suggested that Citrullus colocynthis extract could possess potential antidepressant and sedative effects which would be of therapeutic interest for using in the treatment of patients with depressive disorders. We suggest more research in this regard.

Background: The market is overstocked with commercially accessible medications that contain pyridine rings, including abiraterone acetate and crizotinib for cancer, delavirdine for HIV/AIDS, isoniazid and ethionamide for TB, ciclopirox for anthelmintic conditions, and tacrine for Alzheimer's disease. These developments have raised hopes for how pyridine may help treat conditions relating to the central nervous system and caused research into the drug to continue growing. Objectives: The objective is to compile and analyze information on various pyridine-based derivatives that target various receptors and ion channels to provide relief from CNS disorders. Materials and Methods: To offer a comprehensive overview of the authorized medications and bioactivity data for compounds containing pyridine, research and review papers from PubMed and Google Scholar are integrated with data from other sources. Results: The majority of the responses covered in this article have directly provided readers with an understanding of various CNS receptors that pyridine analogs may target, in addition to synthetic methods for creating novel analogs that can be used to create new derivatives with more potent anticonvulsant and antidepressant properties. Conclusion: The majority of the responses covered in this article have directly provided readers with an understanding of various CNS receptors that pyridine analogs may target, in addition to synthetic methods for creating novel analogs that can be used to create new derivatives with more potent anticonvulsant and antidepressant properties.

Background and objectives: Development of new medicines with fewer side effects and more efficacy is needed for treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders. The present study was designed to investigate the antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects of Stachys annua L. methanol extract in mice. Methods: The extract was prepared by maceration method and the total phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride methods, respectively. Elevated plus-maze (EPM) and open field tests (OFT) were applied to evaluate the anti-anxiety and locomotor activity of animals treated with the intraperitoneal (i. p. ) extract (12. 5, 25, 50, and100 mg/kg), respectively. Antidepressant activity was evaluated by forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST). Results: The total phenolic content of the extract was 54. 13± 0. 01 mg of gallic acid equivalents per gram of dry extract and total flavonoid content was 67. 89± 0. 005 mg of quercetin as equivalents/ g of extract. Intraperitoneal administration of the extract (50 and 100 mg/kg) significantly increased the percentage of time spent and the percentage of arm entries into the open arms of EPM and decreased locomotor activity, compared with the vehicle control group. In addition, the immobility time of animals significantly decreased in both FST and TST with doses of 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg of the extract, compared with the vehicle control group. Conclusion: The extract of Stachys annua L. might be used as an adjunct therapy in clinical studies for the treatment of depressive and anxiety disorders. However, determination of active ingredients needs further evaluation.

Objective(s): The present study aimed to evaluate the putative antidepressant and anti-anxiety effects of the cinnamon essential oil when administered acute (for 3 doses) and sub-acute (for 14 days) to mice. Materials and Methods: In an acute experimental study, forced swim test (FST) was conducted to evaluate the antidepressant-like behavior of animals treated with the intraperitoneal (IP) essential oil of cinnamon in triple doses (0. 5, 1, and 2 mg/kg). In a sub-acute study (14 days in 24-hr intervals) antidepressant-like effects of essential oil (0. 5, 1, and 2 mg/kg) with the same route were assessed in FST and tail suspension test (TST). Anti-anxiety and motor activities were evaluated using elevated plus-maze (EPM) and open field tests, respectively. Determination of different constituents within the sample oil was via gas chromatography– mass spectrometry (GC– MS) analysis. Results: Repetitive administration of cinnamon essential oil (0. 5, 1, 2 mg/kg) during 14 days significantly decreased the time of immobility in both FST and TST as compared to the control group. Mice treated with oil at the dose of 2 mg/kg spent a longer time and had more entries into the open arms of EPM as compared with the vehicle-treated ones. According to GC-MS analysis, 46 chemical compounds were identified in the studied cinnamon essential oil with the main constituent being trans-cinnamaldehyde (87. 32%). Conclusion: Cinnamon essential oil might be used as an adjunctive therapy in improving symptoms of depressive and anxiety disorders. However, dose-response effects need further evaluation. Trans-cinnamaldehyde might be responsible for the beneficial effect observed.

Objective: The present study was undertaken to evaluate anti-depressant activity of Myristica fragrans (MS(.Materials and Methods: Male Wistar rats were subjected to imipramine and herbal extract of MS for their antidepressant activity using Forced Swimming Test (FST), Reserpine Reversal Test (RRT), Haloperidol-Induced Catalepsy (HIC), and Pentobarbitone Sleeping Time (PST).Results: Administration of MS and imipramine revealed a statistically significant reduction in immobility time in FST, RRT, and protection against HIC, compared to the control group. However, there was no significant potentiation of PST.Conclusion: Our study demonstrated the potential antidepressant activity of MS.

Objective: This study aimed to determine anti-depressant effect of α-pinene on gonadectomized-related behavior in male rats. Materials and Methods: Thirty adult male Wistar rats were assigned to 5 experimental groups. In the control group, surgeries were identical but testes were not clamped, ligated or excised. In the sham control, surgeries were identical with no treatment. In the imipramine group, rats were administered with imipramine (15 mg/kg) followed by castration for 2 weeks. In groups 4 and 5, following castration, rats were i.p. injected with 𝛼-pinene (0.5 and 1 mg/kg) for 2 weeks, respectively. Following recovery, forced swimming test (FST), tail suspension test (TST), and open field test (OFT) were performed and serum levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and catalase (CAT) activity were determined. Results: According to the data, immobility time significantly increased following castration compared to control group (p<0.05). Administration of the imipramine significantly decreased immobility time compared to control group (p<0.05). Treatment with 𝛼-pinene (0.5 and 1 mg/kg) significantly decreased immobility time in comparison with sham control group (p<0.05). Number of crossings in the OFT significantly diminished following castration and treatment with 𝛼-pinene (0.5 and 1 mg/kg) increased number of crossings in the OFT compared to sham control group (P<0.05). Serum MDA significantly increased while SOD, GPX and CAT decreased following castration compared to the control group (p<0.05). Administration of the 𝛼-pinene (0.5 and 1 mg/kg) significantly improved serum MDA, SOD, GPX and CAT production compared to the sham rat (p<0.05). Conclusion: These results suggested that 𝛼-pinene has anti-depressant and antioxidant effects in gonadectomized-related behavior in male rats