Introduction: Clinical depression is a severe state of sadness or despair, and it is one of the most common mental illnesses that places a significant burden on society.
Echium amoenum Fisch, or Borago officinalis, is traditionally used in Iran as an anxiolytic and mood enhancer. This study aimed to investigate the effect of
Echium amoenum on depression. Search Strategy: This review study was conducted by searching the PubMed, Scopus, WoS, SID, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar databases using the keywords Echium, Depression, Anxiety, between ۲۰۱۲ and ۲۰۲۳. Results: Several studies have shown that depressive disorder is one of the most common mental illnesses worldwide and has become a highly important research area in psychopharmacology. Major depressive disorder (MDD) is characterized by a decrease in mood. Most antidepressants and placebos have anticholinergic effects and cause hypotension and arrhythmias as side effects. Consequently, there is a need for more affordable, effective, and less harmful medications. Herbal medicines have recently gained attention in the treatment of many mental illnesses, have fewer side effects, and are prescribed alone or in combination.
Echium amoenum has an effect similar to imipramine, which increases neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and serotonin. The seeds of this plant are also rich in essential fatty acids omega-۳ and omega-۶, which have the potential to prevent many neurological diseases such as anxiety, depression, Alzheimer’s, and seizures. This extract contains flavonoids, saponins, unsaturated terpenoids, and sterols. The flavonoids present in
Echium amoenum have mild sedative and anti-anxiety effects. Flavonoids selectively bind to central benzodiazepine receptors and give us anti-anxiety and other benzodiazepine-like effects. Conclusion and Discussion: Based on the findings of the present study, the aqueous extract of the
Echium amoenum plant is effective in the treatment of mild to moderate depression, similar to antidepressants, and is effective on neurotransmitters such as norepinephrine and serotonin in low doses, making it a potential treatment for depression.