EXPERIMENTAL ANALYSES OF ANTIOXIDANT CAPACITY OF A COMMON ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUG

Debalina Sinha Roy*, Shauroseni Palchoudhuri, Musfiqua Mookerjee, Sujata G. Dastidar

ABSTRACT

Severe damages may be produced in the bio-molecules of human system by free radicals that may ultimately lead to cardiovascular, neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases. The adverse effects of free radicals may be reduced to a great extent by synthetic and naturally available antioxidants. The flavonoid quercetin present in many plants has been identified as a potent antioxidant. The pharmaceutical compound imipramine, prescribed for patients suffering from depression and psychosis, is structurally similar to quercetin and was therefore selected to determine its antioxidant potentiality. For this purpose highly recognised and standardised procedures were followed. In the FRAP assay and phosphomolybdenum assay imipramine revealed much greater antioxidant value than the control ascorbic acid. In CUPRAC assay and in determination of ferrous ion chelating property imipramine produced positive antioxidant capacity in a gradually increasing dose dependent manner, although the values were less than the control. Imipramine failed to show nitric oxide scavenging activity. This study opens up an important positive side of therapy for patients suffering from depression or psychosis, who have to take imipramine on a regular basis for a long period of time. The antioxidant property of imipramine would most likely place such patients in a much more advantageous position.

Keywords: Imipramine, Flavonoid, Antidepressant, Quercetin, Antioxidant, Reactive Oxygen Species.