Antidepressant Effect of Asperugo procumbens L. in Comparison with Fluoxetine: a Randomized Double Blind Clinical Trial

Aseprugo procumbens is used as antianxety and depression in Iranian traditional medicine; however no clinical trial has been performed about these properties. The aim of this study was to evaluate the antidepressant efficacy and safety of hydroalcoholic extract of A. procumbens.

In this double blind study, 30 outpatients with mild to moderate depressive disorder (according to DMS-IV-TR criteria who had a score of 18-25 on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were randomly divided in two group, 1) received 10 mg fluoxetine capsule, 2) received 1.2 g dried extract of A. procumbens capsule (6 mg flavonoid,) orally per day. Patients were followed up for 6 weeks; the recovery process was assessed by the HDRS in weeks 0, 2, 4 and 6.

A significant decrease in HDRS was observed in both groups after the fourth week. After the sixth week, fluoxetine had a greater anti-depressant activity than A. procumbens (p value =0.03). There were no significant differences in terms of adverse effects in both groups.

The hydroalcoholic extract of A. procumbens can be considered as an effective and safe remedy for mild to moderate depressive disorder.