Antidepressant- like effect of essential oil of Lavandula angustifolia Mill and Citrus bigaradia Duh in mice

Lavandula stoechas L and Citrus aurantium L. possess flavonoids and they have been used as sedative in Iranian traditional medicine. The aim of this study was to detect and compare the antidepressant activities of Lavandula and Citrus aurantium L in Balb/C mice.
In this experimental study, 54 mice were divided into 9 groups of 6 mice each. Group 1 was the control group and received normal saline. Groups 2, 3, 4 and 5 were treated with different doses of Essential oil of Lavandula (25, 50, 75,100 mg/kg, IP). Groups 6, 7 and 8 were treated with different doses of Essential oil of Citrus aurantium L. (25, 50, 100 mg/kg, IP). Group 9 was treated with imipramine (15 mg/kg, IP). In all groups, the forced swimming test was performed, and the duration of immobility time was expressed as Mean ± Standard error of the mean. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc tests.
Thirty minutes before the forced swimming tests the mice received intraperitoneal injections of Citrus aurantium, lavender and imipramine, but they did not exhibit significant changes in immobilization times compared to the control group(P>0.05). The essential oil of Lavandula 25 mg/kg significantly decreased immobility time in the forced swimming test compared to the essential oil of Lavandula 100 mg/kg group (P Essential oils of Lavandula and Citrus aurantium L. similar to Imipramine have considerable antidepressant properties.