Depression is one of the most common mental health disorders and it is generally characterized by negative mood. Although electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for depression, however, it can cause cognitive deficit. Hesperetin, an active ingredient in citrus peels, has antioxidant and neuroprotective properties. In this study, we evaluated the effect of hesperetin on memory impairment induced by ECT in a reserpine-induced depression model in male rat. For this purpose, 105 male rats weighing 230−250 g were randomly divided into control and reserpine-treated groups. The reserpine-treated animals were subdivided into: Reserpine, Hesperetin (10 and 20 mg/kg), ECT and ECT+Hesperetin (10 and 20 mg/kg). After taking the drugs, the effect of hesperetin was evaluated through behavioral NORT, Y Maze, FST, SPT and also via assessment of hippocampal brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and oxidative stress biomarkers i.e., MDA, SOD and GSH. As a result, our biochemical studies showed a significant decrease of MDA in groups treated with ECT+Hesperetin as compared to ECT and hesperetin groups (P < 0.001) and a marked increase in SOD, GSH and BDNF in ECT+Hesperetin 20 group as compared to other groups (p < 0.05). Also, the results of behavioral tests revealed that treatment with hesperetin can increase the novel object recognition index and alternation behaviors in Y maze test as compared to the groups treated with hesperetin or ECT (p < 0.05). These results suggest that co-administration of hesperetin with ECT is effective for improvement of cognitive function and can alleviate ECT-induced memory impairment in reserpine-treated rats.

抑郁症是最常见的精神健康障碍之一，通常以消极情绪为特征。尽管电休克疗法 (ECT) 是治疗抑郁症的有效方法，但它会导致认知缺陷。橙皮素是柑橘皮中的一种活性成分，具有抗氧化和神经保护作用。在这项研究中，我们在利血平诱导的雄性大鼠抑郁模型中评估了橙皮素对 ECT 诱导的记忆障碍的影响。为此，将 105 只体重 230-250 克的雄性大鼠随机分为对照组和利血平治疗组。利血平治疗的动物细分为：利血平、橙皮素（10 和 20 mg/kg）、ECT 和 ECT+橙皮素（10 和 20 mg/kg）。服药后，通过行为NORT、Y Maze、FST、SPT 以及通过评估海马脑源性神经营养因子 (BDNF) 和氧化应激生物标志物，即 MDA、SOD 和 GSH。结果，我们的生化研究显示，与 ECT 和橙皮素组相比，ECT+橙皮素治疗组的 MDA 显着降低（P < 0.001），与 ECT+橙皮素 20 组相比，SOD、GSH 和 BDNF 显着增加到其他组 (p < 0.05)。此外，行为测试的结果表明，与橙皮素或 ECT 治疗组相比，橙皮素治疗可以增加新的物体识别指数和 Y 迷宫测试中的交替行为（p < 0.05）。这些结果表明，橙皮素与 ECT 的共同给药可有效改善认知功能，并可减轻 ECT 诱导的利血平治疗大鼠的记忆障碍。