Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2016 Feb 15:7:28.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2016.00028. eCollection 2016.

Plant Alkaloids as an Emerging Therapeutic Alternative for the Treatment of Depression

Sadia Perviz  1 , Haroon Khan  1 , Aini Pervaiz  1
Affiliations
Review

Plant Alkaloids as an Emerging Therapeutic Alternative for the Treatment of Depression

Sadia Perviz et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Depression is a heterogeneous mood disorder that has been classified and treated in a variety of ways. Although, a number of synthetic drugs are being used as standard treatment for clinically depressed patients, but they have adverse effects that can compromise the therapeutic treatments and patient's compliance. Unlike, synthetic medications, herbal medicines are widely used across the globe due to their wide applicability and therapeutic efficacy associated with least side effects, which in turn has initiated the scientific research regarding the antidepressant activity. This review is mostly based on the literature of the last decade, aimed at exploring the preclinical profile of plant-based alkaloids (the abundant secondary metabolite) as an emerging therapy for depression.

Keywords: alkaloids; antidepressant effects; future therapies; multiple mechanisms; plants.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Alexander R. C., Preskorn S. (2014). Clinical pharmacology in the development of new antidepressants: the challenges. Curr. Opin. Pharmacol. 14, 6–10. Available online at: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1471489213001896 - PubMed
    1. Ali B. H., Bashir A. K., Tanira M. O. M., Medvedev A. E., Jarrett N., Sandler M., et al. (1998). Effect of Extract of Rhazya stricta, a Traditional Medicinal Plant, on Rat Brain Tribulin. Pharmacol. Biochem. Behav. 59, 671–675. 10.1016/S0091-3057(97)00464-4 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Calvó-Perxas L., Vilalta-Franch J., Turró-Garriga O., López-Pousa S., Garre-Olmo J. (2016). Gender differences in depression and pain: a two year follow-up study of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe. J. Affect. Disord. 193, 157–164. 10.1016/j.jad.2015.12.034 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Dhingra D., Valecha R. (2014). Punarivine, an alkaloid isolated from ethanolic extract of Boerhaavia diffusa linn, reverses depression-like behaviour in mice subject to chronic unpredictable mild stress. Indian J. Exp. Biol. 52, 799–807. - PubMed
    1. Farias F. M., Passos C. S., Arbo M. D., Barros D. M., Gottfried C., Steffen V. M., et al. (2012). Strictosidinic acid, isolated from Psychotria myriantha Mull. Arg. (Rubiaceae), decreases serotonin levels in rat hippocampus. Fitoterapia 83, 1138–1143. 10.1016/j.fitote.2012.04.013 - DOI - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources