A study of the potential effect of an aqueous extract of centella asiatica as an antidepressant / Siti Nor Asiah Ab Ghani

Herbal preparations may be effective alternatives in the treatment of depression, which remains difficult to manage. For this purpose, C. asiatica, an oriental traditional medicine, has been screened for the potential antidepressant activity. The studies were carried out using male albino Swiss mice. The mice were randomly divided into four groups of five animals each. This study examined the antidepressive effect of aqueous extracts of C. asiatica primarily through the forced swimming test (FST) and secondarily through spontaneous locomotor activity test and behavioral test models. The first group received normal saline solution, while other three groups were administered different concentrations of aqueous C. asiatica extract solution. Different concentrations of Centella asiatica i.e. 100, 300, 500 mg/kg body weight were administered to the mice. All administrations were performed through intraperitoneal (i.p) injection to determine the acute (30 minutes) and chronic (1 week) effect after administration. The control group received normal saline solution in a similar method and period of time. The result suggests that the aqueous extract of C. asiatica may have potential antidepressant-like effects.