ANTIDEPRESSANT-LIKE ACTIVITY OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF WITHANIA QARAITICA IN MICE

Objective: The goal of the present study was to assess the antidepressant-like action of Withania qaraitica in two behavioral animal models, the forced-swimming test (FST) and tail suspension test (TST) in mice. Methods: Withania qaraitica methanolic extract was prepared by the maceration. The antidepressant activity was measured by the forced-swimming test (FST) using C57BL/6 mice and the tail suspension test (TST) using BALB/c mice. Mice were divided into three groups: control (DMSO), standard (citalopram and desipramine), and Withania qaraitica methanolic extract (n = 6 per group). Drugs were injected (1 ml/100 g) intraperitoneally (i. p.). Data were evaluated using analysis of variance, followed by LSD post-hoc tests, where *p