Antidepressant-like activity of methyl jasmonate involves modulation of monoaminergic pathways in mice

Purpose: The efficacy of current antidepressant drugs has been compromised by adverse effects, low remission and delay onset of action necessitating the search for alternative agents. Methyl jasmonate (MJ), a bioactive compound isolated from Jasminum grandiflorum has been shown to demonstrate antidepressant activity but its mechanism of action remains unknown. Thus, the role of monoaminergic systems in the antidepression-like activity of MJ was investigated in this study. Materials and methods: Mice were given i.p. injection of MJ (5, 10 and 20 mg/kg), imipramine (10 mg/kg) and vehicle (10 mL/kg) 30 min before the forced swim test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) were carried out. The involvement of monoaminergic systems in the anti-depressant-like effect of MJ (20 mg/kg) was evaluated using p-chlorophenylalanine (pCPA), metergoline, yohimbine, prazosin, sulpiride and haloperidol in the TST. Results: MJ significantly decrease the duration of immobility in the FST and TST relative to control suggesting antidepressant-like property. However, pretreatment with yohimbine (1 mg/kg, i. p., an alpha 2-adrenergic receptor antagonist) or prazosin (62.5 mu g/kg, i. p., an alpha(1)-adrenoceptor antagonist) attenuated the antidepressant-like activity of MJ. Also, pCPA; an inhibitor of serotonin biosynthesis (100 mg/kg, i. p) or metergoline (4 mg/kg, i. p., 5-HT2 receptor antagonist) reversed the anti-immobility effect of MJ. Sulpiride (50 mg/kg, i. p., a D-2 receptor antagonist) or haloperidol (0.2 mg/kg, i. p., a dopamine receptor antagonist) reversed the anti-immobility effect of MJ. Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that serotonergic, noradrenergic and dopaminergic systems may play a role in the antidepressant-like activity of MJ. (c) 2017 Medical University of Bialystok. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.