Print ISSN 2319-2003 | Online ISSN 2279-0780 doi: 10.18203/2319-2003.ijbcp20150004 IJBCP International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology www.ijbcp.com International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology | May-June 2015 | Vol 4 | Issue 3 Page 414 Research Article Evaluation of antidepressant and analgesic activity of tapentadol with mirtazapine: an experimental study Pankaj K. Chaudhary 1 , Atul Jain 1 , Asha Pathak 1 *, Neha Sharma 2 , Atul K. Mishra 3 , Arvind K. Maurya 1 , Vikas Gaur 4 INTRODUCTION Depression Depression is one of the leading causes of global disease burden and disability. 1 For instance, depression is the most important risk factor for suicide, which claims around 0.85 million lives annually, and is among the top three causes of death in young people ages 15-35. 2,3 There are two types of depression mainly unipolar in which mood swings in only one direction and bipolar in which depressive episode alternate with mania. The symptoms include persistent sad, anxious, or “empty” feelings, feelings of hopelessness or pessimism, feelings of guilt, worthlessness, or helplessness. The World Health Organization estimates that major depression is the fourth most important cause worldwide of ABSTRACT Background: Data comparing tapentadol with an antidepressant is limited. A comparison of tapentadol with mirtazapine at different dose has not been performed, the other antidepressant in the same therapeutic class with a signifcant market share, has been undertaken. In the absence of relevant data to assess the place that tapentadol should occupy in the therapeutic arsenal, indirect comparisons are the most rigorous way to go. We conducted a study evaluate antidepressant and analgesic activity of tapentadol with mirtazapine at different doses in Swiss albino mice. Methods: Tapentadol was administered at 10, 20 and 40 mg/kg (i.p) once daily for 14 days to swiss albino mice of either sex. The immobility period for antidepressant activity of mice were recorded in forced swim test and reaction time for analgesic activity of mice were recorded in tail fick test of the control and drug treated group. The antidepressant and analgesic activity of tapentadol (10, 20, 40 mg/kg i.p) was compared with that of mirtazapine (3, 5, 7 mg/kg i.p), administered for 14 days. Results: Tapentadol produced better antidepressant at (20, 40 mg/kg), but less at 10 mg/kg and signifcant analgesic activity at all the three doses, as indicated by reduction in immobility times and increase in reaction time as compared to control. Mirtazapine produced no antinociceptive activity at 3 mg/kg, but signifcant at 5, 7 mg/kg and showed better antidepressant activity at all the three doses in mice. The result of this study indicates the better analgesic activity of tapentadol at all the doses and least antidepressant activity at 10 mg/kg, as compared to mirtazapine which has shown better antidepressant activity at all the three doses but no analgesic activity at 3 mg/kg. Conclusion: It can be concluded that tapentadol is a better drug in case of depression associated with pain compared to mirtazapine in mice. Keywords: Antidepressant, Analgesic, Tail fick test, Forced swim test, Tapentadol, Mirtazapine 1 Department of Pharmacology, U.P. Rural Institute of Medical Science & Research, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India, 2 Department of Pharmacology, NIMS Medical College, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India, 3 Medical Offcer, U.P. Rural Institute of Medical Science & Research, Etawah, Uttar Pradesh, India, 4 Department of Psychiatry, NIMS Medical College, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India Received: 04 February 2015 Revised: 18 March 2015 Accepted: 06 April 2015 *Correspondence to: Dr. Asha Pathak, Email: drasha_pathak@yahoo. co.in Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open- access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non- Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non- commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.