Screening of plants used in Danish folk medicine to treat depression and anxiety for affinity to the serotonin transporter and inhibition of MAO-A

• Published in: Journal of ethnopharmacology 2013-02, Vol.145 (3), p.822-825
• Main Authors: Jäger, Anna K., Gauguin, Bente, Andersen, Jacob, Adsersen, Anne, Gudiksen, Lene
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: aerial parts; Anti-Anxiety Agents; Anti-Anxiety Agents - pharmacology; Antidepressive Agents; Antidepressive Agents - pharmacology; Anxiety; Anxiety - drug therapy; Apium graveolens; Borago officinalis; Calluna vulgaris; Danish folk medicine; Denmark; Depression; Depression - drug therapy; drug therapy; drugs; ethanol; inhibitory concentration 50; leaves; MAO; Medicine, Traditional; metabolism; Monoamine Oxidase; Monoamine Oxidase - metabolism; pharmacology; Phytotherapy; Plant Extracts; Plant Extracts - pharmacology; Plants, Medicinal; screening; seeds; serotonin; Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins; Serotonin Plasma Membrane Transport Proteins - metabolism; Serotonin transporter; traditional medicine; Trigonella foenum-graecum
• ISSN: 0378-8741; 1872-7573
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jep.2012.12.021

A number of plant species are used in Danish folk medicine for treatment of depression and anxiety. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts of 17 plant species were tested for affinity to the serotonin transporter and for inhibition of MAO-A—both targets for antidepressive treatment. An ethanolic extract of aerial parts of Borago officinalis had affinity to the serotonin transporter. Ten extracts, from eight plants, had IC50 values below 25μg/ml extract in the MAO-A assay. The most active extracts in the MAO-A assay were the ethanol extract of seeds of Trigonella foenum-graecum (IC50 4μg/ml); ethanol extract of leaves of Apium graveolens (IC50 5μg/ml) and the water extract of aerial parts of Calluna vulgaris (IC50 8μg/ml). Besides Borago officinalis, which toxicity profile excludes it from further development as an herbal drug, none of the plants had potential as serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Several plants had MAO-A inhibitory activity. [Display omitted]