Abstract:
Depression is a mental disorder characterized by a persistently lowered mood and
leads to patients experiencing decreased productivity and even ending in suicide.
Antidepressants can be used for the initial treatment of depressed patients. Herbs
has potential as antidepressants that can be selected using the Forced Swim Test
(FST) method. This study aims to determine the antidepressant activity of the ethyl
acetate extract of old areca nut seeds through the FST method in an acute manner.
FST was used because it was one of the most widely used in vivo methods for
antidepressant screening in basic and preclinical studies. Intraperitoneal injection
of mice was performed 1 hour before FST at a dose of 10 mg/kg and the control
group was injected with 0.9% saline only. Ethyl acetate extract of old areca nut
seeds dose of 10 mg/kg was not effective as an antidepressant because the decrease
in immobility time was not significantly different to control.
