Comparative Efficacy of Ekapākī (1x) and Daśapākī (10x) Brāhmī Ghr̥ta in Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress Induced Behavioral Alterations in Rats

Context: With a rising need for development of drugs that are effective with multifaceted therapeutics for the treatment of depression and the associated behavioral changes, brāhmī ghr̥ta offers a choice of treatment. The challenge of palatability of ghr̥ta in therapeutic dose of 20 to 40 g per day can be overcome by potentiation and the same was tested in the present study. Aims: To evaluate and compare the efficacy of 1x Brāhmī Ghr̥ta (BG) and 10x BG in Chronic unpredictable mild stress (CUMS) induced behavioral alterations. Settings and Design: Randomized Controlled preclinical trial. Materials and Methods: Self prepared and standardized 1x Brāhmī ghr̥ta (3.6 g/kg) and 10x BG (3.6, 1.8 and 0.9 g/kg) were evaluated in CUMS induced behavioral changes in rats by using sucrose preference (SPT), forced swim (FST), and memory assessment with elevated plus maze (EPM) tests. Statistical Analysis Used: One-way ANOVA followed by Post hoc analysis. Results: 28 days CUMS procedure induced depression in rats which was confirmed. Upon comparison with CUMS control group, 1x BG and 10x BG, at all three dose levels, increased the sucrose preference (P < 0.05); in forced swim test increased the number of rotations (P < 0.001) and in elevated plus maze test significantly lowered the transfer latency time in retention transfer latency [1X BG (P < 0.05) and10X BG (P < 0.001)]. Further, 10x BG at all 3 dose levels showed significantly better results in comparison to 1x BG in FST (P < 0.01) and EPM (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Both the samples of brāhmī ghr̥ta āēapākī (1x) and daśapākī (10x), showed antidepressant effect and reversal of memory impairment induced by CUMS model. This is the first study to report that drug potentiation increases the efficacy and achieves dose reduction.