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Abstract

Anxiety disorders are among the most prevalent and high-cost diseases. Medicinal plants are a very good option to treat, and several have shown the ability to reduce anxiety. We report here the effect of A. gratissima var. gratissima (Agg) on behavior and anxiety in mice. The methanol extract of leaves was tested in order to verify the safety, effect on sleeping time and behavior. Anxiety was tested through the Open field, Hole board, and elevated plus maze tests, with 50, 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg of Agg, and diazepam as positive control drugs. The results showed that A. gratissima var. gratissima did not cause signs of toxicity or sedative effect, and the general behavior of mice was not altered with any dose. All doses of Agg and diazepam, after the mice were submitted to the Open field and Hole board, evidenced a significant increase in ambulation, and a significant decrease in immobility time, related to the control group. On Hole board, a significant increase in number and time spent in exploration indicated a possible anxiolytic-like effect, that was confirmed by the results obtained in the elevated plus-maze, where mice increased the number of entries and time spent in open arms, and decreased the number of entries and time spent in closed arms of the labyrinth. Al the results evidenced the safety of Agg, and denoted an anxiolytic-like effect in mice. INTRODUCTION:Anxiety disorders, affecting up to 33.7% of the population, are the most prevalent mental disorders and are associated with a high cost in health. A substantial underrecognition and under-treatment of these disorders have been demonstrated 1 . Persistent fretfulness, distractedness, and a sort of whole-body clenching to a full-blown panic attack constitute the variety of clinical manifestations of anxiety, which are indicators of a possible threat to homeostasis.

In Vivo Antidepressant-Like Effect Assessment of Two Aloysia Species in Mice and LCMS Chemical Characterization of Ethanol Extract

“…Nevertheless, a statistically significant increase in swimming time was observed in animals treated with all doses of the extract, as expected. These results agree with the reported effect on sleep time induced by barbiturates [21], thus indicating that Agg exerts its antidepressant effect without exerting a stimulating effect on the CNS [31].…”

“…Taking this into account, and the differences between our result with the ethanolic extract of A. gratissima var. gratissima and the anxiolytic effect reported [21], it could indicate, as a possible mechanism of action of the antidepressant effect, a set of interactions with other receptors not studied by Zeni et al, for which the tail suspension method is not sensitive enough, such as the inhibition of MAO or interaction with the GABA A receptor [33][34][35].…”

Anxiolytic-like activity of Aloysia virgata var. platyphylla leaves extract in mice

“…platyphylla has an anxiolytic-like effect (30). Several species of Verbenaceae, particularly Aloysia, demonstrated an anxiolytic effect (12,(14)(15)(16)18,(20)(21)(22), and our results agree with that.…”

“…platyphylla showed no adverse effect in the acute toxicity test. A similar result was observed with A. gratissima var gratissima(14). The barbiturate-induced sleep time test indicated that this plant is devoid of depressant or stimulant effects on the central nervous system(28), while animals treated with diazepam prolonged sleep time as expected for this drug used as the positive control.Mice treated with diazepam and 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg of the methanolic extract of A. virgata var.…”

“…Aloysia gratissima var. gratissima (14), A. polystachya (15)(16)(17), A. triphylla (18), Lippia alba, L. sidoides, and L. graveolens (19)(20)(21) have shown their effectiveness as anxiolytic in preclinical studies in mice, and some have also shown anxiolytic effect in clinical trials (16). Mice treated with these plants' extract exhibited an increase in number and time spent exploring in hole board, and in the elevated plus-maze, they increased the number of entries and time spent in the open arms of the labyrinth.…”