Investigation of the Antidepressant Effect of Paederia foetida L. (Rubiaceae)in Methanolic Extract using a Mice Model

Paederia foetida is recognized as 'skunkvine' in English, which is having a varied pharmacological importance in therapeutic purpose. Methanolic extract of leaves of P. foetida was administered orally to the swiss albino mice at the doses of 100, 200 and 400mg/kg for 1, 7 or 14 days. All the doses revealed a significant reduction (P ≤ 0.01) in immobility time in a dose-dependent manner compared to the vehicle control group in tail suspension and forced swimming test respectively. A significant increase in locomotor activity (P ≤ 0.01) was observed at all dose levels following oral administration of the extract, compared to the vehicle control group. However, the extract at a dose of 400mg/kg revealed the greatest reduction in immobility time in both the tail suspension and forced swimming tests, as well as an increase in locomotor activity in mice. These results demonstrated that the methanolic extract of P. foetida leaves possesses antidepressant activity.