Antidepressant-like effects of essential oil and asarone, a major essential oil component from the rhizome of Acorus tatarinowii

摘要

Context: Depression is one of the most common psychiatric diseases. Acorus tatarinowii Schott (Araceae) has shown many bioactivities in treatment of senile dementia and epilepsy. However, there is no report on antidepressant-like effects of the essential oil (EO) and its major components on animals under standardized experimental procedures. Objective: This study was designed to investigate the antidepressant properties of EO and asarones from the rhizomes of A. tatarinowii. Materials and methods: Gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS) was used to determine the composition of EO. The forced swimming test (FST), tail suspension test (TST) and open-field test (OFT) were used to evaluate the antidepressant-like effects of EO and asarones. EO [30, 60, 120 or 240 mg/kg, per os (p.o.)], asarones (α-asarone and β-asarone) [5, 10 and 20?mg/kg, intraperitoneal (i.p.)] and imipramine (15?mg/kg, i.p.) were administered at 1?h, 30?min and 30?min before the test, respectively. Results: From the results of GC/MS, it was found that the main components of the EO were α-asarone (9.18%) and β-asarone (68.9%). From the results of FST and TST, the immobility time can be reduced to 166?±?17?s (p?p?p?p?p?p?p?p?Conclusion: The results obtained indicate that the EO and asarones from the rhizomes of A. tatarinowii can be considered as a new therapeutic agent for curing depression.