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A double-blind, randomized pilot study for comparison of Melissa officinalis L. and Lavandula angustifolia Mill. with Fluoxetine for the treatment of depression.

  • 2020-07-03
  • BMC complementary medicine and therapies 20(1)
    • Mostafa Araj-Khodaei
    • Ahmad Ali Noorbala
    • Reza Yarani
    • Fatemeh Emadi
    • Elham Emaratkar
    • Soghrat Faghihzadeh
    • Zahra Parsian
    • Fatemeh Alijaniha
    • Mohammad Kamalinejad
    • Mohsen Naseri

Study Design

Type
Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT)
Population
45 adult outpatients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) for major depression
Methods
Randomized, double-blind clinical trial; 3 groups: M. officinalis (2g/day), L. angustifolia (2g/day), or fluoxetine (20mg/day) for 8 weeks; assessed by HAM-D at weeks 0,2,4,8
Blinding
Double-blind
Duration
8 weeks
Funding
Unclear

Background

Depression has rapidly progressed worldwide, and the need for an efficient treatment with low side effect has risen. Melissa officinalis L and Lavandula angustifolia Mill have been traditionally used in Asia for the treatment of depression. Many textbooks of traditional Persian medicine refer to these herbs for the treatment of depression while there are no adequate clinical trials to support this claim. The present study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of M. officinalis and L. angustifolia compared to fluoxetine for the treatment of mild to moderate depression in an 8-week randomized, double-blind clinical trial.

Methods

Forty-five adult outpatients who met the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5) for major depression, were randomly assigned to 3 groups to daily receive either M. officinalis (2 g) or L. angustifolia (2 g) or fluoxetine (20 mg) and were assessed in weeks 0, 2, 4 and 8 by the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression (HAM-D) including 17 items.

Results

Our study showed that M. officinalis and L. angustifolia effect similar to fluoxetine in mild to moderate depression. (F = 0.131, df = 2,42, p = 0.877).

Conclusion

Due to some restrictions in this study including absence of placebo group, large-scale trials are needed to investigate the anti-depressant effect of these two herbs with more details.

Trial registration

IRCT2014061718126N1 . Registration date: 2015-06-04-"Retrospectively registered".

Research Insights

  • Lemon Balm→Reduced Depression Severity

    Our study showed that M. officinalis and L. angustifolia effect similar to fluoxetine in mild to moderate depression. (F = 0.131, df = 2,42, p = 0.877).

    Effect
    Neutral
    Effect size
    Small
    Dose
    2 g/day
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