Evaluation of postpartum behaviour in rats treated with Hypericum perforatum during gestation

• Autor(a) principal: Vieira,Vinícius A.
• Data de Publicação: 2013
• Outros Autores: Campos,Leandro V., Silva,Lorena R., Guerra,Martha O., Peters,Vera M., Sá,Rita de Cássia S.
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-695X2013000500796
• topic: Hypericum perforatum; Pregnancy; Central nervous system; Wistar rats

Gestational depression is detrimental to the health of the mother and the offspring and contributes to the appearance of depressive and anxiety symptoms during the postnatal period. Traditional antidepressants have undesirable side effects when utilised during gestation, but Hypericum perforatum has been characterised as an efficient and safe antidepressant that prevents the recurrence of symptoms. This study verified the effects of Hypericum perforatumon the behaviour of Wistar rats that were treated during gestation and evaluated 10 and 60 days post-treatment. Pregnant Wistar rats were divided into four groups of ten animals each: one control group that received distilled water and three treatment groups that were treated orally with 36, 72 or 144 mg/kg Hypericum perforatumextract. At 10 and 60 days after parturition and post-treatment, the rats were submitted to the holeboard, the tail suspension, and the forced swim tests. The animals treated with 144 mg/kg Hypericum perforatumexhibited greater head-dipping activity in the hole-board test and reduced immobility in the tail suspension and forced swim tests, suggesting less anxiety and depression 10 and 60 days post-treatment.The results indicated that treating rats with Hypericum perforatumduring the gestational period decreased depressive behaviour and anxiety 10 and 60 days post-treatment.