Evaluation of the Antidepressant Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Clitorea ternatea Leaves In Mice.

The study was conducted to evaluate the antidepressant activity of ethanolic extract of Clitorea ternatea leaves in mice.  This test was done using healthy albino mice weighing 20-25gm each of either sex in the Department of Pharmacology of Gauhati Medical College. They were housed in standard laboratory condition at 25ºC and fed on standard diet and water ad libitum. Five groups were selected each containing six mice. The groups were Group I (Normal Control), Group II (Disease Control), Group III (Fluoxetine 10mg/kg i.p),Group IV (Ethanolic extract of Clitorea ternatea leaves 150mg/kg i.p) and Group V (Ethanolic extract of Clitorea ternatea leaves 300mg/kg i.p). Reserpine (2mg/kg i.p) was used to induce depression in all the groups except the Normal Control. After 24 hours, the standard and test drugs were given and the mice were subjected to tail suspension test (TST) after 30 mins and forced swim test (FST) after 1 hour of injecting the drugs.  Mean±SEM values were calculated for each group. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and post analysis was done by Dunnett’s test. Results were found to be significant (p