Evaluation of anti-depressant activity of calendula officinalis L. flower extract in experimental animals

Objective: Depressive disorder is a prevalent psychiatric disorder, which affects 21% of the world population. The presently using drugs can impose a variety of side-effects. In the traditional system of medicine is useful in treating various ailments. The main objective of the work was to evaluate the antidepressant activity of aqueous extract Calendula officinalis L. flowers using forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) in mice. Methods: The aqueous extract (10 to 50 mg/kg) was administered to albino mice for 14 days for evaluating antidepressant activity using forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) in mice. Results: In case of forced swim test the aqueous extract Calendula officinalis L.flowers showed significant dose dependent effect on immobility and climbing behavior. As it was evident, oral administration of 50mg/kg of flower extract effectively decreased the time of immobility in both TST and FST compared to control. Potentiality of Calendula officinalis L.was almost similar to that of standard drug Imipramine in alleviating depression in both the animal models. Conclusion: The results indicate that aqueous extract of Calendula officinalis L.flowers contained flavonoids, glycosides and saponins which might be active in case of Forced swim test (FST) and Tail Suspension Test (TST) to show anti-depressant activity, which support the ethno medicinal application of the plant as an antidepressant agent.