AKTIVITAS ANTIDEPRESAN EKSTRAK N-HEKSANA BIJI PINANG MUDA DENGAN METODA FORCED SWIM TEST PADA MENCIT JANTAN (Mus musculus)

Abstract

Depression is a mental disorder caused by an imbalance of neurotransmitters which can be treated with antidepressants. The method commonly used for antidepressant screening which is validated by animal behavior is the Forced Swim Test (FST). It has not been clarified the antidepressant activity of n-hexane extract young areca nut (Areca catechu L.). Therefore, this study aimed to perform FST on mice which had been injected acutely with young areca nut n-hexane extract. The young areca nut n-hexane extract was injected intraperitoneally 1 hour before FST to mice at doses of 100 mg/kg, while the the vehicle control group was only injected 0.9% saline. The n-hexane extract young areca nut seeds at a dose of 100 mg/kg has no potential as an antidepressant. This was evidenced by the unsatisfactory results, the extract induced a significant decline in the immobility time of the mice that had been injected with the drug sample.