Mangrove-Derived Phytochemicals: Therapeutic Role in Depression and Hypertension Management

AbstractMangrove is the name given to a group of trees and shrubs living in salt soils that provide oxygen to the plant through their lenticels in marshy and low-oxygen soils. Mangroves are an important source for a wide range of wood, such as construction, shelters, fences, and non-wood forest products such as honey, sugar, alcohol, vinegar, foliage for fodder and cattle. Various Mangrove species were also identified to treat different ailments, including skin diseases, bleeding, and snake bites, abscesses, orthopedic problems, rheumatism, kidney disorders, diabetes, ulcers, boils, asthma, hepatitis, fever, leprosy, smallpox, dysentery, epilepsy, and hypertension in ethnobotanical surveys in different countries. For instance, in the Comoros and Mauritius Islands, a decoction prepared from the root of a mangrove shrub B. gymnorhiza and five to seven leaves of Piper borbonense boiled in two cups of water, is taken to treat haemorrhage, moreover, also used for diabetes and hypertension. The mangrove plant species are a good source of potential bioactive compounds, such as flavonoids, polyphenols, terpenes, tannins and alkaloids, which exhibit variety of therapeutic properties. Although many mangrove species have been used to treat ailments traditionally by local inhabitants for an extended period, following folk traditions, the number of studied extensively. Due to such rich phytochemical composition, pharmacological studies revealed their effects on various diseases. Among them, antidepressant and antihypertensive properties are also remarkable. Antidepressant effects are explained through mechanisms such as regulating neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, modulation of the HPA axis, and reduction of oxidative stress. Likewise, effects against hypertension are associated with ACE inhibition, improvement of vascular endothelial function, and diuretic effects. The present study will investigate the impact of mangroves on hypertension and depression.