Current therapy for the management of depression are reported for various adverse effects such as ‘serotonin syndrome’, ‘cheese reaction’ and above all prolonged use of these drugs may also lead to suicidal ideation or suicidal attempts. Curcumin is mainly concerned about poor aqueous solubility and decreased bioavailability. Hence to overcome these, curcumin SMEDDS were formulated in the present study. Depression was induced by bilateral olfactory bulbectomy and the animals were randomized into 8 groups as normal, control (vehicle 10 ml/kg, p.o.), pure curcumin (10, 20, 40 mg/kg, p.o.), and curcumin SMEDDS (10, 20, 40 mg/kg, p.o). After 14 days of respective treatment, behavioral parameters such as passive avoidance response (PAR), open field test (OFT) and ambulation counts were evaluated. In OFT, increased central area frequency, peripheral area frequency, central area duration and decreased rearing and grooming were recorded with an increased ambulation counts. In PAR, significant reduction in number of trials and step down from platform was observed in the animals treated with test drug. Serum cortisol level was also found to be decreased in the test groups. Behavioral and biochemical estimations in the present study revealed the improved brain permeability and further increase in biological activity of curcumin SMEDDS.

Keywords Curcumin; Depression; Olfactory bulbectomy; SMEDDS