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

This 2020 study examines Melissa officinalis L and Lavandula angustifolia Mill (Lavender) since they have been used to treat depression in Asia and have even been referred to as treatments for depression in traditional Persian literature. Araj-Khodaei et al. set out to compare the efficacy of these herbs to fluoxetine in the treatment of mild to moderate depression. The participants were 45 adult outpatients with major depression. The subjects were randomized to receive either 2g of M. officinalis, 2g of L. angustifolia, or 20mg of fluoxetine, before being examined for depressive symptoms at weeks 0, 2, 4 and 8. The results indicated that both M. officinalis and L. angustifolia had similar effects to fluoxetine in mild to moderate depression. Having said that, the absence of a placebo group was one of the limitations of this trial. Additional support from large-scale trials assessing the anti-depressant effect of these two herbs is needed.
[NPID: herbs, depression, Fluoxetine, herbal, lavandula angustifolia, melissa, persian]

Year: 2020

Reference: Araj-Khodaei, M., Noorbala, A. A., Yarani, R., Emadi, F., Emaratkar, E., Faghihzadeh, S., Parsian, Z., Alijaniha, F., Kamalinejad, M., & Naseri, M. (2020). A double-blind, randomized pilot study for comparison of Melissa officinalis L. and Lavandula angustifolia Mill. with Fluoxetine for the treatment of depression. BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 20(1), 207.

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