Choppadandi Anil1, Namala Balakrishna2, Mohammad Abdul Majeed3, Dasari Nageswari Devi4, Souris Kondaveti5
OBJECTIVES
Comparison of antidepressant activity of Losartan with Imipramine in albino mice.
BACKGROUND
Of all the afflictions that trouble the soul, depression is the commonest characterised by a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Similarly, hypertension is another condition which has emerged as a major public health problem in India and many other developing countries. There is compulsion that 35% of the population has to use the antihypertensives and antidepressants simultaneously for a long period of time to maintain their health. The present work is aimed at comparing antidepressant activity of losartan with imipramine which acts by raising brain BDNF (Brain derived neurotrophic factor) levels so that a single agent can be used for both the conditions avoiding multiple medications.
METHOD
18 Albino mice were taken, divided into 6 mice in each group and subjected to Forced swim test. All the drugs were administered orally. Drugs were administered and time of onset of immobility is measured 60 min. after the drug administration along with total duration of immobility. Animals are exposed to pretest of 15 min., 24 hrs. prior to the 6 min. swim test. Each animal is considered immobile when it ceased to struggle and swim and remained floating in the water, only moving to keep its head above water. Control group received distilled water (10 mL/kg). Standard group received Imipramine (5 mg/kg) and test group was treated with Losartan (3 mg/kg). The Forced swim test for each mouse was video captured which was later analysed to count the time of onset of immobility and total duration of immobility.
RESULTS Data was analysed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). Losartan showed significant antidepressant activity indicated by significant delay (P<0.05) in the time of onset of immobility and significant reduction (P<0.05) in the total duration of immobility compared to the control group. The antidepressant activity of Losartan is intermediate to that of the Standard (Imipramine) group and the control (Distilled water).
CONCLUSION
Losartan showed antidepressant activity in albino mice raising the possibility of itself being used as an antidepressant alone or can be used as a single agent for the treatment of both hypertension and depression simultaneously avoiding multiple medications.
