Antidepressant Effect of Asperugo Procumbens L. in Comparison With Fluoxetine: A Randomized Double Blind Clinical Trial

Background and objectives: aseprugo procumbens is used as antianxety and depression in iranian traditional medicine; however no clinical trial has been performed about these properties. the aim of this study was to evaluate the antidepressant efficacy and safety of hydroalcoholic extract of a. procumbens. methods: in this double blind study, 30 outpatients with mild to moderate depressive disorder (according to dms-iv-tr criteria who had a score of 18-25 on the hamilton depression rating scale (hdrs) were randomly divided in two group, 1) received 10 mg fluoxetine capsule, 2) received 1.2 g dried extract of a. procumbens capsule (6 mg flavonoid,) orally per day. patients were followed up for 6 weeks; the recovery process was assessed by the hdrs in weeks 0, 2, 4 and 6. results: a significant decrease in hdrs was observed in both groups after the fourth week. after the sixth week, fluoxetine had a greater anti-depressant activity than a. procumbens (p value =0.03). there were no significant differences in terms of adverse effects in both groups. conclusions: the hydroalcoholic extract of a. procumbens can be considered as an effective and safe remedy for mild to moderate depressive disorder.