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Depression is a major neuropsychiatric disorder, and limitations of current antidepressants have stimulated interest  in plant-derived therapies. Hyphaene thebaica (doum palm) contains bioactive compounds with reported  neuroprotective and antioxidant properties. This study evaluated the antidepressant-like effects of aqueous doum  palm extract in a chlorpromazine-induced depression model of Drosophila melanogaster. One hundred and eighty  flies were allocated into six groups comprising a control, chlorpromazine-treated group, standard antidepressant treated group, and three extract-treated groups (500, 750, and 1000 mg/mL). Antidepressant-like activity was  assessed using climbing, social spacing, mating, and eclosion assays. The data were analyzed through a one-way  ANOVA, establishing a significance threshold at p<0.05. Doum palm extract produced dose-dependent  improvements in behavioral performance, with the 1000 mg/mL group showing significant improvements in  climbing activity, social spacing behavior, mating performance, and eclosion rate compared to the  chlorpromazine-treated group (p<0.05). Aqueous doum palm extract exhibited significant antidepressant-like  activity in D. melanogaster, supporting its potential as a candidate for further investigation in mammalian models  and mechanistic studies. 

Key Words: Hyphaene thebaica, depression, chlorpromazine, Drosophila melanogaster, antidepressant