ABSTRACT
Depression is a type of mood disorder in which a person feels sad, anxious, restless, irritable, helpless, or guilty, resulting in loss of interest in daily activities. Depression is however related to neurodegeneration of nerve cells which causes neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. These synthetic drugs which are used for the treatment of depression include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), serotonin or nor epinephrine reuptake inhibitors, atypical antidepressants, tricyclic antidepressants, and monoamine oxidase inhibitors. SSRIs are the most widely prescribed drugs since these have effective antidepres-sant properties. These drugs elevate the serotonin (a chemical in the brain 198which regulate the mood) level within brain to normal level. These SSRIs have several side effects such as nausea, insomnia, anxiety, restlessness, decreased sex drive, dizziness, weight gain, tremors, sweating, sleepiness or fatigue, dry mouth, diarrhea, constipation, and headaches. This chapter approaches herbs which can also be used so as to enhance the effects of the synthetic antidepressants along with a reduction in their side effects and their delivery through nanofibrous drug-delivery systems and transdermal patches. Nanofibers with sizes less than 100 nm are especially useful in the field of medicine because these nanomaterials replicate components of in vivo cellular environment. Their multiple properties such as large surface-area-to-volume ratio and high porosity provides a mechanism for sustained release of herb extracts in their nano to micro form for the treatment of the diseases.
