EVALUATION OF THE DEPRESSOGENIC AND ANTI-EPILEPTIC ACTIVITY

ABSTRACT

Depression is a mood condition characterized by chronic sorrow and loss of interest. It affects how you feel, think, and behave and can lead to a variety of mental and physical difficulties. It is also known as major depressive disorder or clinical depression. Epilepsy, often known as seizure disease, is a brain disorder characterized by recurrent seizures. These seizures occur as a result of an interruption in electrical activity in the brain, which temporarily disrupts the communication channels between brain cells. Levonorgestrel is an emergency oral contraceptive used to prevent pregnancy after unprotected sex or when another method of birth control fails. It acts by hindering a woman's egg from maturing properly. It may also inhibit the woman's egg from adhering to the uterine wall. A search of the literature revealed, despite the lack of significant data, that oral contraceptives can be connected to depression. As a result, animal models of these central nervous system indices were used in depression and antiepileptic studies. This study was carried out to evaluate the antidepressant and anti-epileptic activity of levonorgestrel using the forced swim test, tail suspension test and pentylenetetrazole induced seizures in mice. Oral administration of levonorgestrel (1 mg/kg, 2 mg/kg and 4 mg/kg) caused a decrease in the periods of mobility in both the forced swim test and tail suspension tests. In the pentylenetetrazole induced seizure, 100% mortality was recorded. The results obtained suggest levonorgestrel has depressogenic activity but does not possess antiepileptic properties.