Hindawi Publishing Corporation he Scientiic World Journal Volume 2013, Article ID 870468, 6 pages http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2013/870468 Research Article Heteropterys cotinifolia: A Neuropharmacological and Phytochemical Approach with Possible Taxonomic Implications Maira Huerta-Reyes, 1,2 Alejandro Zamilpa, 1 Rafael Álvarez-Chimal, 3 José Ángel Luna-Manzanares, 4 María Esther León-Velasco, 5 Arturo Aguilar-Rojas, 1,6 Manuel Jiménez-Estrada, 3 and María Guadalupe Campos-Lara 2 1 Centro de Investigaci´ on Biom´ edica del Sur, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Argentina No. 1, Col. Centro, CP 62790 Xochitepec, MOR, Mexico 2 Unidad de Investigaci´ on M´ edica en Farmacolog´ ıa, Hospital de Especialidades, Centro M´ edico Nacional Siglo XXI, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Avenida Cuauht´ emoc No. 330, Col. Doctores, Del. Cuauht´ emoc, CP 06720, DF, Mexico 3 Instituto de Qu´ ımica, Universidad Nacional Aut´ onoma de M´ exico, Del. Coyoac´ an 04510, DF, Mexico 4 Universidad Tominaga Nakamoto, Luis Freg No. 6 y 12, Col. Lomas de Sotelo, CP 53390, Naucalpan de Ju´ arez, Estado de M´ exico, Mexico 5 Herbario Nacional de M´ exico (MEXU), Instituto de Biolog´ ıa, Universidad Nacional Aut´ onoma de M´ exico, Apartado Postal 70-367, Del. Coyoac´ an 04510, DF, Mexico 6 Unidad de Investigaci´ on M´ edica en Medicina Reproductiva, UMAE en Ginecolog´ ıa y Obstetricia No. 4, Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, Avenida R´ ıo Magdalena No. 289, Col. Tizap´ an San ´ Angel, CP 01090, Delegaci´ on ´ Alvaro Obreg´ on, DF, Mexico Correspondence should be addressed to Maira Huerta-Reyes; chilanguisima@yahoo.com Received 30 August 2013; Accepted 30 September 2013 Academic Editors: D. Benke, M. Bermejo, and N. Zohreh Copyright © 2013 Maira Huerta-Reyes et al. his is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Heteropterys cotinifolia (Malpighiaceae) has been used in traditional Mexican medicine mainly for the treatment of nervous disorders. However, the speciic neuropharmacological activities responsible for this use remain to be deined. he present study evaluates the antidepressant and anxiolytic efects produced by the methanolic extract of Heteropterys cotinifolia and the inluence of such efects on motor activity in ICR mice. Our results show that the methanolic extract of Heteropterys cotinifolia produces a dose-dependent antidepressant efect in the forced swimming test in mice at doses from 31 to 310 mg/kg, with no reduction of mice locomotion. However, no anxiolytic properties were observed. Our indings suggest that the main extract compounds identiied as chlorogenic acid and rutin may be involved in the antidepressant efects. To our knowledge, the present study constitutes the irst report of pharmacological and phytochemical data of Heteropterys cotinifolia. he presence of lavonoids in the methanolic extract of Heteropterys cotinifolia may also provide further data to characterize taxonomically this species in order to be distinguished from others species closely related and belonging to the same genus. 1. Introduction Depression and anxiety are the most frequent mental dis- orders in all communities all over the world. Around 350 million people are estimated to sufer from depression [1], while anxiety afects one eight of the population worldwide [2]. he prevalence of comorbidity of depression and anxiety is high and by far the most frequent mixture of symptoms among mental disorders [3]. he current pharmacological treatments for depression and anxiety are efective only in a certain percentage of the population and, moreover, most drugs have many adverse side efects including hypotension, arrhythmias, insomnia and sexual dysfunction in the case of antidepressant synthetic nitrogen-bearing compounds [4], and sedation, muscle relaxation, amnesia, and physical dependence when benzodiazepines are used [5]. herefore,