EVALUATION OF ANTIDEPRESSANT EFFECT OF 6-SHOGAOL IN ANIMAL MODELS

The objective of the study was therefore to evaluate the role of 6-shogaol in the antidepressant effect Zingiber officinale using two different animal models viz., tail suspension test and forced swim test. Ginger rhizomes were extracted using water-methanol (80/20) as the solvent using maceration and 6-shogaol was isolated from the extract using mixture of n-hexane-diethyl ether (70/30, v/v) in column chromatography. The yield of the isolated 6-shogaol after column chromatographic isolation of the aqueous methanolic ginger extract was found to be 1.3%. The isolated 6-shogaol was of pale-yellow color and the texture appeared to be fine and crystalline. The forced swim test revealed that the immobility time was significantly reduced at all the administered doses of 6-shogaol in a dose dependent manner. The swimming time was found to increase in a similar fashion but was not significantly increased at a dose of 30 mg/kg of 6-shogaol. ANOVA analysis of the tail suspension test revealed that the reduction of immobility time was not significant at a dose of 30 mg/kg 6-shogoal whereas at doses of 100 and 300 mg/kg, the reduction was significant as compared to the control group. KEYWORDS: Shogaol, extract, tail suspension, forced swim, antidepressant, isolation.