A comparative Study of The Antidepressant Effect of Datura stramonium Leaf Extract against Seroxat in Pregnant Albino Rats and Their Offspring: Light and Electron Microscope Study

Postpartum depression is a severe psychiatric disease that affects 10-30% of moms worldwide. Elucidating the possible antidepressant role of Datura stramonium by mitigating the harm to the brain frontal cortex caused by maternal depression in both the mother as well as offspring in comparison to the antidepressant drug (Seroxat) is the aim of the current work. A hydroethanolic extract of Datura stramonium is prepared and analyzed phytochemically utilizing Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometry. Twenty-five rats were separated into five groups (each with five mothers and offspring rats): I (Control non-pregnant), II (Control pregnant), III (Postpartum), IV (Datura treated) groups in which mothers administered with 50 mg of D. stramonium extract orally, and V (Seroxat treated group) in which mothers administered with 0.36 mg/100g body weight of paroxetine orally. After a week following the delivery, every treated mother rat and offspring were slaughtered and dissected for brain extraction, preparation and staining with haematoxylin and eosin, Congo red, and SERT immunoreaction for light microscopic examinations. The brain’s frontal cortex was taken and prepared for observation of cellular ultrastructure. Ultimately, it was analyzed and imaged using a transmission electron microscope. Overall results of Datura treatment showed mild improvement in most mothers and offspring groups but an antidepressant drug (Seroxat) showed some ameliorated effects on mothers but not offspring. We can conclude that Datura leaf extract can be used as an antidepressant for pregnancy-related brain damage as an alternative to the well-known treatment of Seroxat, but it should be taken with caution under medical supervision.