Plantas medicinais com potencial terapêutico na depressão no Brasil : Revisão integrativa

Abstract

Nowadays, medicinal plants have been widely used in psychopathologies. Among them, depression is one of the most discussed currently, being an aggravation that can lead to health damage if not treated properly. The majority of the population has difficult access to pharmacological treatment, due to the high financial costs and the various side effects; which contributes to the use of alternative treatments like phytotherapy. To determine which medicinal plants have effects on depression, it was used the integrative literature review. This study aimed to analyze the scientific evidence available in the literature about medicinal plants whit therapeutic potential in depression in Brazil. It is an Integrative Review. Searches were conducted in the Virtual Health Library (VHL), US National Library of Medicine (PubMed), Web of Science and Scopus databases, following the inclusion criteria: original full text articles; open online access; with no specified date of publication; in Portuguese, English and Spanish idioms; studies carried out in Brazil; and preclinical studies. Articles that did not respond to the research question, which were duplicated, as well as revisions and contents of books, dissertations or thesis were excluded. The descriptors and keywords used in the search were applied according to each library and database, being obtained in the Medical Subject Headings (MSH) and Health Sciences Descriptors (HSD). The sample consisted of nine primary articles. The articles' analysis demonstrated that the effective plants in depression in the tail suspension test in common with forced swimming test were: Ptychopetalum olacoides, species of Hypericum (H. caprifoliatum, H. brasiliense, H. perforatum and H. myrianthum), Siphocampylus verticillatus, Trichilia catigua, Cecropia glaziovii, Lafoensia pacari, species of Eugenia (E. brasiliensis, E. catharinae, e E. umbelliflora), Aloysia gratissima and Campomanesia adamantium. However, only Cecropia glazioviiwas effective in all behavioral tests, including the open field test.These study results show a breakthrough in pharmacological research, collaborating to improve phytomedicine and new treatment options for depression that may be available to the population. However, further studies are needed to ensure the clinical safety and efficacy of these possible phytodrugs.