Role of Acorus calamus in preventing depression, anxiety, and oxidative stress in long-term socially isolated rats

Vet World Vol.16 August-2023 Article-24

Research Article

Veterinary World, 16(8): 1755-1764

https://doi.org/10.14202/vetworld.2023.1755-1764

Ashwin Rohan Rai¹, Teresa Joy², Meghana Poojari³, Mangala M. Pai¹, Amit Massand¹, and B. V. Murlimanju¹

1. Department of Anatomy, Kasturba Medical College, Mangalore, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India.
2. Department of Anatomy, American University of Antigua College of Medicine, University Park, Jabberwock Beach Road, Coolidge, St. John’s, Antigua, West Indies.
3. Department of Anatomy, Basaveshwara Medical College and Hospital, Chitradurga, India.

Background and Aim: Social isolation stress (SIS) and individual housing have been shown to cause abnormal cognitive insufficiencies, altered anxiety levels, and signs of psychiatric diseases. Acorus calamus (AC), commonly known as Sweet Flag, has been widely used in India to treat neurological, metabolic, and respiratory disorders, indicating its potential therapeutic value. This study aimed to determine the antidepressant and antioxidative effects of AC on rats subjected to long-term, social-isolation-induced stress.

Materials and Methods: This study involved 2-month-old male rats (24) weighing approximately 180200 g bred in-house. The rats were divided into four groups (n = 6): Group-1 received saline, Group-2 received SIS, Group-3 received only 50mg/kg AC, and Group-4 received 50mg/kg AC and SIS for 6 weeks. After this, behavioral, biochemical, and neuronal assay was conducted.

Results: Behavioral experiments showed significantly higher activity levels (p < 0.001) in AC-treated rats than in the SIS group. In addition, rats subjected to SIS with AC treatment exhibited enhanced total antioxidants, superoxide dismutase, and neuronal assays compared to rats subjected to SIS alone.

Conclusion: Acorus calamus treatment improved the antidepressant and antioxidant potential against SIS in rat brain tissue. Moreover, we proved that AC can effectively reverse the neurotoxicity induced by SIS in animal models. As we battle against the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and social isolation, AC could be considered a supplementary treatment to alleviate depressive-like symptoms in our present-day lifestyle. Keywords: antidepressant, antioxidative effects, brain tissue, coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Keywords: antidepressant, antioxidative effects, brain tissue, coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

How to cite this article: Rai AR, Joy T, Poojari M, Pai MM, Massand A, and Murlimanju BV (2023) Role of Acorus calamus in preventing depression, anxiety, and oxidative stress in long-term socially isolated rats, Veterinary World, 16(8): 1755-1764.

Received: 27-04-2023 Accepted: 22-07-2023 Published online: 28-08-2023

Corresponding author: Teresa Joy E-mail: tjoy@auamed.net

DOI: 10.14202/vetworld.2023.1755-1764

Copyright: Rai, et al. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http:// creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.