Screening of Antidepressant Activity of Punica granatum in Mice

Introduction: India is a rich source of medicinal plants used therapeutically to treat various disorders including depression. This study was undertaken to evaluate the antidepressant effect of acute and chronic administration of Punica granatum (pomegranate) whole fruit in mice. Methods: We used the aqueous extract of Punica granatum (250 and 500 mg/kg per day), standard drug used was Imipramine (10 mg/kg) and vehicle was gum acacia (10 ml/kg), orally. Four groups of animals were used and each group had six animals. In the acute study drugs/vehicles were administered 60 min prior to the experiments. In the chronic study drugs/vehicles were administered for 14 days and the last dose was given on the 14^th day, 60 minutes prior to experiment. Forced Swim Test and Tail Suspension Test were used for testing antidepressant activity. Data was analyzed using one-way ANOVA with drug treatment as the independent factor. Post-hoc comparisons were performed using Dunnett’s test. Results: In acute and chronic forced swim test as well as acute tail suspension test, duration of immobility was significantly reduced in the PG 500 mg/kg, but not in the 250 mg/kg treated group. In chronic tail suspension test, duration of immobility was significantly decreased in PG 250 mg/kg and 500 mg/kg treated groups. The antidepressant activity of 500 mg/kg was comparable to that of Imipramine 10 mg/kg. Conclusion: The present study suggests that aqueous extract of whole fruit of P. granatum has antidepressant activity at 500 mg/kg. It would be advisable to encourage consumption of pomegranate extract in patients with depression because of its nutritional and functional properties.