This study evaluated the effects of a hydro-alcoholic extract of Melissa officinalis (HAEMO) on anxiety-and depressive-like behaviours, oxidative stress and apoptosis markers in restraint stress-exposed mice. In order to induce a depression-like model, mice were subjected to restraint stress (3 h day −1 for 14 days) and received normal saline or HAEMO (50, 75 and 150 mg kg −1 day −1 ) for 14 days. The administered doses of HAEMO were designated based on the concentration of one of the main phenolic compounds present in the extract, rosmarinic acid (2.55 mg kg −1 at lowest dose); other phytochemical analyses including assays for antioxidant activity, total phenols and flavonoids were also carried out. The behavioural changes in an open field task, elevated plus maze, tail suspension and forced swimming tests were evaluated. Also, malondialdehyde (MDA) levels and enzyme activities of superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase, and total antioxidant capacity were assessed in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus. Moreover, levels of Bcl-2, Bax and caspase 3 in the brain as well as serum concentration of corticosterone were evaluated. HAEMO (75 and 150 mg kg −1 ) significantly reversed anxiety-and depressive-like behaviours. Also, HAEMO reduced MDA levels, enhanced enzymatic antioxidant activities and restored serum levels of corticosterone. An immunoblotting analysis also demonstrated that HAEMO decreased levels of pro-apoptotic markers and increased anti-apoptotic protein levels in the prefrontal cortex and hippocampus of restraint stress-exposed mice. Our findings suggested that HAEMO reduced inflammation and had anxiolytic and antidepressant effects in mice.

Outcomes were classified as primary, including depression or anxiety, and secondary as side effects of lemon balm. Primary outcomes were considered in acute or chronic manifestations. | Information sourcesEnglish databases, including Cochrane Library, Web of Sciences, Scopus, PubMed, ProQuest, Trip Database, Clinical Key, and Google Scholar, and Persian databases, including Magiran, Iranmedex, Iran Doc, and SID, were searched until October 30, 2020, without time limitation. The cited references of the selected studies were reviewed to find other related studies.

Affective disorders have become prevalent and costly worldwide chronic conditions. Lemon Balm (Melissa Officinalis L.) is a medicinal plant with beneficial effects on neuropsychiatric disorders. Its potential to specifically treat conditions such as depression and anxiety has been investigated for over 20 centuries. Given the lack of a historical overview of lemon balm in mood disorders, the present review aimed to introduce the historical course of the neuro-psychiatric applications of lemon balm across the centuries. We investigated several viable medieval Arabic sources up to the 15th century, to distinguish the neuropsychiatric applications, especially anxiolytic and anti-depressive effects of lemon balm. In the early centuries, lemon balm was mainly prescribed to treat gastrointestinal disorders. Over time, physicians identified the efficient use of lemon balm in sadness, sleep disorders, anxiety, depression, epilepsy, ischemic stroke, amnesia, sciatalgia, and radicular neuropathy. Importantly, it was established that the therapeutic effects of lemon balm in the field of neuro-psychiatric diseases were emphasized by physicians during the Middle Ages. These findings have since been validated in human clinical trials. Lemon balm has also demonstrated the ability to be utilized in epilepsy, amnesia and ischemic stroke. Based on the extensive history of lemon balm in neuropsychiatry, future investigations could use this knowledge to extensively investigate the potential of lemon balm in neuropsychiatric disorders such as depression and anxiety, and possibly develop an efficient neuropsychiatric remedy.