CC BY
419th multidisciplinary international
Conference of Biological Psychiatry
«Stress and Behavior»
Proceedings of the 9th International Multidisciplinary Conference «Stress and behavior» Saint-Petersburg, Russia, 16-19 May 2005 Editor: Allan V. Kalueff, PhD
CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS 1. PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY
ANXIOLYTIC EFFECTS OF FLOWER EXTRACTS FROM SOUR ORANGE (CITRUS AURANTIUM L.) IN RATS
H. Jonaidi, M. Abbasnejad, M. Yousefi Shahid Bahonar University of Kerman, Kerman, Iran Citrus aurantium L. is commonly known as sour orange is one of the important medicinal herbs in traditional Iranian medicine used for treatment of anxiety and insomnia. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of extracts of the above plant on anxiety behavior using an experimental animal model.
Methods: Aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts sour orange flowers (SOF) were obtained. NMRI male rats were treated intraperitoneally with 5 doses of these extracts (62.5, 125, 250 mg/kg from aqueous extract, 62.5 and 125 mg/kg from hydroalcoholic extracts) along with saline and Diazepam (1 mg/kg) as control and standard solutions respectively, 30 min prior to assessment of anxiolytic activity in the elevated plus maze (EPM). In this model, during a 5-min test period the percentage of time spent in and percentage of entries into either open or closed arms were recorded. Data were expressed as mean ±SEM and statistical analysis was performed using Kruskal—Walis H followed by Mann—Whitney U test (P = 0.05).
Results: The result of this study indicated that the aqueous extract of SOF at the doses of 62.5 and 125 mg/kg and Diazepam significantly increased the percentage of time spent in and percentage of entries into open arms and decreased these parameters for closed arms comparing to control group (P = 0.05). However, the hydroalcoholic extracts have no effect in this regard.
Discussion and conclusions: As mentioned in the Results, COF extracts showed a significant anxiolytic effect during the stay on the EPM in rats. The flavonoids identified in SOF, including neohespridine, may be attributed to these effects. In this regard, It has been reported that flavonoids have a affinity to bind to central benzodiazepine receptors. The results of this study are in accord with ethnopharmacological use of sour orange flower, which could be useful in primary medical care, after toxicological investigations.
Psychopharmacol. Biol. Narcol. 2005. Vol. 5, N 2. P. 885-886 Psyhopharmacology & biological narcology
ISSN 1606-8181
