Effect of Herbal Antioxidants in Normalizing Concentration of Nitric Oxide And Corticotropin Releasing Factor To Ameliorate Effects In Depression

Abstract

Depression is a mood disorder that has affected more than 300 million people worldwide and is the most prevalent neuropsychiatric disorder. Investigations have demonstrated that depression encompasses a profound neurocircuitry failure. The brain regions involved in this dysregulation may include the hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, and striatum. These nuclei are important regulators in endocrine control of behaviors symptomatic of depression such as eating, sleeping, circadian rhythm, stress response, learning and memory, and pleasure seeking. Depression is characterized by persistent sadness and a loss of interest in activities that people normally enjoy accompanied by an inability to carry out daily activities. Depression and stress have a strong interlinking and have been well established. Stress initiates numerous cascades and leads to disturbances in many physiological and psychological responses. Present study has explored nitriergic and CRF-corticosterone pathway which is ordinarily triggered on stress response. Nitriergic response is mediated through excess formation of iNOS an isoform of NOS and CRF is already recognized as stress hormone. Depressive symptoms are not limited to certain phase or age group it has became common amongst every age group of society. Hence effective treatment is needed to overcome depressive states of common people. Clinical treatments are available but a symptomatic relief could not be appreciated due to incorporated side effects and limited pharmacological targets. A new approach towards treatment of depression has been explored in study incorporating antioxidants from natural source targeting stress mediated depression. Research explored two potent antioxidants Thymoquinone and Piperine for their potential antidepressant activity The main aim of the study was to explore nitriergic mechanism exploring NO-cGMP pathway and stress-CRF-Corticosterone pathway. Molecular inhibitors were used to inhibit iNOS, P38MAPkinase and CRF receptors to explore potency of selected future a