Antioxidative role of palm grass rhizome ameliorates anxiety and depression in experimental rodents and computer-aided model

Md Akramul Hoque; Shabbir Ahmad; Nishan Chakrabarty; Mohammad Forhad Khan; Mohammad Shah Hafez Kabir; Afrina Brishti; Md Obayed Raihan; A H M Khurshid Alam; Md Anwarul Haque; Mst Samima Nasrin; Md Areeful Haque; A S M Ali Reza

doi:10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08199

Antioxidative role of palm grass rhizome ameliorates anxiety and depression in experimental rodents and computer-aided model

Heliyon. 2021 Oct 18;7(10):e08199. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2021.e08199. eCollection 2021 Oct.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmacy, International Islamic University Chittagong, Chittagong, 4318, Bangladesh.
² Department of Chemistry, Wayne State University, Detroit, USA.
³ School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of North Dakota, USA.
⁴ Department of Pharmacy, University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi, 6205, Bangladesh.
⁵ Department of Experimental Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8575, Japan.
⁶ Faculty of Pharmacy, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, 50300 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Abstract

Palm grass (Curculigo recurvata) is an ethnomedicinally important herb reported to have significant medicinal values. The present study aimed to evaluate the antidepressant and anxiolytic activities of a methanol extract of C. recurvata rhizome (Me-RCR) through different approaches. The antidepressant and anxiolytic properties of Me-RCR were assessed by using elevated plus maze (EPM), hole-board (HBT), tail suspension (TST), and forced swimming (FST) tests in Swiss Albino mice. The in-depth antioxidative potential of Me-RCR was also evaluated through DPPH radical scavenging activity, ferric-reducing power capacity, total phenolic, flavonoid, flavonol, and antioxidant content analysis. Computational investigations were performed using computer-aided methods for screening the anxiolytic, antidepressant, and antioxidative activities of the selected lead molecules. Treatment with Me-RCR (200 and 400 mg/kg, b.w.) notably increased the number of open arm entries and the time spent in the EPM test. In the HBT, Me-RCR exhibited significant anxiolytic activity at a dose of 200 mg/kg, whereas similar activity was observed at 400 mg/kg in the EPM test. Me-RCR significantly decreased the immobility time in a dose-dependent manner in both TST and FST. The IC₅₀ for DPPH and reducing power capacity assay were found to be 18.56 and 193 μg/mL, respectively. Promising outcomes were noted for the determination of total phenolics, flavonoids, flavonols, and antioxidant capacity. In the case of computer-aided studies, nyasicoside showed promising binding energy for antidepressant and anxiolytic activities, whereas isocurculigine demonstrated promising effects as an antioxidant. Overall, these findings suggest that Me-RCR could be a favourable therapeutic candidate for the treatment of mental and psychiatric disorders, as well as a good source of antioxidants.

Keywords: Antidepressant; Antioxidant; Anxiolytic; Curculigo recurvata; Nyasicoside.