Evaluation of anti-depressant effect of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) in albino mice

Background: Depression is a common serious psychiatric disorder and the available anti-depressant treatments are associated with many unwanted side-effects. Thus, various herbal products have been tried. The advantages of herbal treatments would include its complementary nature to the conventional treatment, thus making the latter a safer and cheaper option for depressive disorders. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the anti-depressant activity of lemon grass (Cymbopogon citratus) in albino mice and compare it with Imipramine. Methods: A total of 60 Swiss albino mice weighing around 20-40 g of either sex were divided into 10 groups (n=6). They were orally administered with tween 80, as a control, 20 mg/kg imipramine (standard), 5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg C. citratus (test drugs), and combination of imipramine (10 mg/kg) and C. citratus (10 mg/kg). Duration of immobility was observed for last 4 mins of total 6 mins period in groups 1-5 for forced swimming test (porsolt test) and groups 6-10 for tail suspension test each on 1st, 8th and 15th day and recorded as mean±standard error of the mean. Results were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance, followed by Tukey’s post-hoc test. Results: Lemon grass at the above doses significantly reduced the immobility time in both the tests compared with the control (< 0.05). The reduction in the duration of immobility at the dose of 10 mg/kg was comparable to imipramine. Conclusions: The essential oil of lemon grass (C. citratus) has significant anti-depressant activity comparable to imipramine.