Evaluation of antidepressant activities of rose oil and geranium oil in the forced swim test in mouse

Depression is one of the most common psychiatric disorders that may result in significant consequences in active population of the society. In traditional manuscripts there are many indications about the antidepressant effects of rose oil, but so far no scientific research has been done about this subject. The purpose of present study was to determine the antidepressant effects of rose oil and geranium oil. Geranium oil is similar to rose oil due to the effective components. All experiments were carried out on male Swiss-Webster mice (25-30 g). The antidepressant activities of rose oil and geranium oil were assessed using the forced swim test according to the method published by porsolt (6). This test is the most widely used tool for antidepressant activity preclinically. In this test, mice were placed into a cylindrical glass (25 cm height, 12 cm in diameter) containing a column of 17 cm of water at 25 ±1 °C. After 30 min (for the injection route) or 2 weeks (for the oral route) of the rose oil and geranium oil administrations, the mice were subjected to forced swimming test for 8 min. Acute subcutaneous injection or chronic orally administered of rose oil and geranium oil significantly decreased the immobility time in the mouse forced swim test. The geranium oil response was biphasic. Pretreatment of animals with amphetamine and nortriptyline also reduced the immobility time. The inhibitory effects elicited by rose oil, geranium oil and amphetamine but not nortriptyline were antagonized by reserpine. The results suggest that the antidepressant activities of rose oil and geranium oil may be mediated through a presynaptic mechanism.