Involvement of imidazoline binding sites in the anticompulsive like activity of ellagic acid

Introduction and Aim: Reports supporting a potential role of ellagic acid in the attenuation of obsessive-compulsive symptoms are relatively sparse. The antidepressant action of ellagic acid is mediated by monoaminergic system which is infested with imidazoline binding sites. Role of these sites in anticompulsive effect of ellagic acid was thus probed. Materials and Methods: The mice were divided into respective groups and treated with test drugs or standards as per protocol. Marble burying test was used for assessing the anticompulsive effect across the groups. Results: Our study revealed that ellagic acid (200 mg/kg), showed significant anticompulsive activity as reflected by the decrease in number of marbles buried in comparison to vehicle treated group. The imidazoline agonists’ moxonidine and 2BFI showed anticompulsive like activity at sub-effective doses viz. 0.5 mg/kg and 10 mg/kg respectively when combined with sub-effective dose of ellagic acid (100 mg/kg). The antagonists, Efaroxan and Idazoxan, though did not show any significant blockade in anticompulsive activity alone, showed the same in combination with ellagic acid (200 mg/kg). Conclusion: Hence it can be opined that ellagic acid shows anticompulsive action in a dose dependent manner in which the Imidazoline binding sites may have a significant role.