Evaluation of antidepressant effect of angiotensin receptor blocker telmisartan in albino mice

Abstract

Background: Depression and hypertension are common morbidities which are seen in elderly and also one leads to the other. Present antidepressant drugs are known for its side effects and there is a necessary for newer drugs with lesser adverse effects. Telmisartan being a widely used antihypertensive drug and with multiple additional properties like peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma activity along with blunting of renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system can be a potential drug for depression. Hence this study is aimed to evaluate the antidepressant activity of angiotensin receptor blocker telmisartan in animal models.Methods: As per protocol submitted to ethics committee, 24 male albino mice weighing between 20-30grams of either sex were selected and divided into 4 groups consisting of 6 each. They were housed in cages with food and water ad libitum. Animals were kept in ambient temperature and humidity, with a 12-hour light and 12-hour dark cycle. Group 1 and group 2 were administered distilled water and fluoxetine 10 mg/kg respectively only on day 15, whereas group 3 and group 4 received telmisartan per orally 1 mg/kg and 2 mg/kg respectively for 15 days once daily. All animals were tested on day 15 using tail suspension test for antidepressant effect.Results: There was significant reduction in the immobility time in telmisartan group when compared to the control group and this time was comparable with the immobility time of standard drug fluoxetine. Decrease in immobility time was found to statistically significant by using one-way ANOVA followed by Bonferroni post hoc test.Conclusions: As evident from our study, telmisartan can be a newer target for antidepressant effect.