DENISA ȘTEFANIA MANOLESCU*^,**, GEORGIANA UȚĂ*^,**^#, SPERANȚA AVRAM**

*Regional Research and Development Center for Innovative Materials, University of Pitești, Products, and Processes from Automotive Industry, Argeș, Romania

**Department of Anatomy, Animal Physiology and Biophysics, Faculty of Biology, University of Bucharest, Bucharest, Romania

 Globally the most common mental disorder is depression. Depression therapy is based on medication supported by psychotherapy or neurofeedback. Drugs that treat or ameliorate the symptoms of depression are called antidepressants. This type of medication presents severe side effects and limitations on risk groups – pregnant women, children, and patients with severe associated pathologies. Therefore, in these therapeutic conditions, it is necessary to use natural compounds with identical primary effects but with much-diminished side effects. This paper presents the recent studies regarding the antidepressant-like effect of compounds extracted from lemon balm, studies that claim the therapeutic effects of these compounds, although their molecular mechanism of action is not fully known. In these circumstances, we hope that this article will be an inspiration for further research.

Key words: Depression, Melissa officinalis L., natural compounds

Corresponding author’s e-mail: georgiana.uta@drd.unibuc.ro