• Advances in Traditional Medicine
• /
• v.4 no.4
• /
• pp.235-242
• /
• 2004

The alcoholic extract of dried roots of Rubia cordifolia dose dependently reduced blood sugar level in alloxan treated rats. The extract also reduced ulcer index, plasma corticosterone in cold restrain stressed rats in dose related manner. The mice treated with alcoholic extract of Rubia cordifolia spent more time in the open arm of the elevated plus maze indicating anxiolytic activity. The extract also antagonized the amnesic effect of scopolamine in mice as indicated by reduced transfer latency in the elevated plus maze. Thus the plant bears potential for use in diabetes, stress, anxiety, and dementia.

• Proceedings of the PSK Conference
• /
• 2002.10a
• /
• pp.393.2-393.2
• /
• 2002

Benzodiazepine is a widely used anxiolytic agent. However it has been reported that most anxiolytics have side effects such as hypotension, depression of respiration. dizziness. headaches. chronic sleep disorders. drug poisonings. and withdrawal symptoms. In this report. we want to evaluate the anxiolytic effect of Albizia julibrissin (AJ), There are various reports that AJ has several biological activities such as sedative action. insomnia. irritability, anorexia and diuretic action. (omitted)

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Toxicology Conference
• /
• 2005.05a
• /
• pp.120-120
• /
• 2005

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.85-105
• /
• 2011

Objectives : The purpose of this study was to characterize the neuroprotective effects and anxiolytic-like effects of Gongjin-dan and Polygala japonica, Polygala tenuifolia, Acorus gramineus mixed pills(G.J.D-P.P.A.). Methods : The neuroprotective effects of G.J.D-P.P.A. determined by the passive avoidance and Y-maze tasks and Morris water maze task, and the anxiolytic-like effects of the G.J.D-P.P.A. using an elevated plus-maze(EPM) in mice. Results : Drug-induced amnesia was induced by treating animals with scopolamine(1 mg/kg, i.p.). A single G.J.D-P.P.A.(400 and 800 mg/kg) administration significantly enhanced cognitive function and attenuated scopolamine-induced cognitive impairments as determined by the passive avoidance and Y-maze tasks(P < 0.05) and also reduced escape-latency on the Morris water maze task(P < 0.05). The administration of GJD-PPA(400 and 800 mg/kg) significantly increased the percentage of time spent in open arms and entries into the open arms of the EPM compared with saline-treated control group(P < 0.05). Moreover, there were no changes in the locomotor activity and myorelaxant effects in any group compared with saline-treated control group. Conclusions : These results suggest that GJD-PPA dramatically possesses the anti-amnestic and cognitive-enhancing activities related to the memory processes, and promotes the anxiolytic-like activity in mice.

• Journal of Oriental Neuropsychiatry
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.293-308
• /
• 2013

Objectives : The Bambusae Caulis in Taeniam has been used in traditional oriental medicine to treat a variety of mental disorders including anxiety and depression. The purpose of present study is to observe the changes which take place in the body in stressful situations and to compare the anti-depressive, anxiolytic and anti-stress effect of Bambusae Caulis in Taeniam in different doses. Methods : This study was performed to evaluate the effects of Bambusae Caulis in Taeniam in the immobilization stress model in rats. Twenty-five rats were divided into 5 groups of 5: control, stress, low dose administration (75 mg/kg), medium dose administration (150 mg/kg) and high dose administration (225 mg/kg). The four groups other than the control group were placed in an immobilization stress test, and distilled water (control) or Bambusae Caulis in Taeniam extract was administration orally for 2 weeks. After treatment, the despair and anxiety behavior of rats were measured by open field test, forced swimming test, weight gain, contents of 5-HT in raphe nucleus and adrenal gland weight. Results & Conclusions : As a result of evaluation by measuring five aspects, FST, OFT, weight gain, 5-HT contents and adrenal gland weight, Bambusae Caulis in Taeniam has significant antidepressant, anxiolytic, anti-stress effects.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.24 no.3
• /
• pp.476-483
• /
• 2010

The present study was performed to investigate the putative anxiolytic-like effects of the aqueous extract of the roots of Scrophularia buergeriana (SB-W) using elevated plus-maze (EPM) and hole-board apparatus in mice. SB-W was orally administered at doses of 50, 100, 200 or 400 mg/kg to ICR mice, 1 h before the behavioral evaluation. Control group were administered with an equal volume of saline, and positive control group with buspirone (2 mg/kg, i.p.). The administration of SB-W significantly increased the percentage of time spent in open arms and entries into the open arms of the EPM compared with saline-treated control group (P < 0.05). Futhermore, those anxiolytic-like activities of SB-W were antagonized by flumazenil (a $GABA_A$ antagonist, 10 mg/kg), but not by WAY-100635 (a 5-$HT_{1A}$ antagonist, 0.3 mg/kg). Moreover, there were no changes in the locomotor activity and myorelaxant effects in any group compared with saline-treated control group. In the hole-board test, the administration of SB-W (200 and 400 mg/kg) significantly increased the number of head-dipping compared with saline-treated control group (P < 0.05). Therefore, these findings suggest that Scrophularia buergeriana promotes the anxiolytic-like activity mediated by GABAergic nervous system in mice.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Applied Pharmacology
• /
• 2008.04a
• /
• pp.119-142
• /
• 2008

Zizyphi Spinosi Semen (ZSS) has been widely used for the treatment of anxiety and insomnia in Korea and China. This experiment was performed to know whether sanjoinine A, one of major alkaloid compounds of ZSS has anxiolytic and hypnotic effects through the GABAergic systems. Our results showed that administration of sanjoinine A increased open arm entries and spent time in open arm in the elevated plus-maze and increased head dips in hole board test. Different from traditional anxiolytic, diazepam, sanjoinine A itself did not decrease locomotor activity and strength level in mice. Furthermore, Sanjoinine A (0.5-2.0 mg/kg) prolonged sleeping time and reduced sleeping latency induced by pentobarbital in a dose-dependent manner similar to muscimol, a $GABA_A$ receptor agonist. Sanjoinine A (0.25-1.0 mg/kg) also increased sleeping rate and sleeping time in the combined administration at the sub-hypnotic dose of pentobarbital and showed synergic effects with muscimol in potentiating sleeping onset and enhancing sleeping time induced by pentobarbital. However, sanjoinine A itself did not induce sleeping at the higher dose. In addition, both of sanjoinine A and pentobarbital increased chloride influx in primary cultured cerebellar granule cells. Sanjoinine A decreased the $GABA_A$ receptor ${\alpha}$-subunit expression and increased ${\gamma}$-subunit expression, and had no effects on abundance of ${\beta}$-subunit in primary cultured cerebellar granule cells, showing different expression of subunits from pentobarbital. In conclusion, sanjoinine A shows anxiolytic-like effects and augments pentabarbital-induced sleeping behaviors through the modification of GABAergic systems. [This work was supported by the Korea Research Foundation Grant funded by the Korean Government (MOEHRD) (The Regional Research Universities Program/Center for Healthcare Technology Development)].

• Animal cells and systems
• /
• v.16 no.3
• /
• pp.198-206
• /
• 2012

Anxiety in zebrafish can be determined by examining their bottom-dwelling and light-avoidance behavior. This study determines the effects of physostigmine and scopolamine on anxiety in zebrafish by measuring swimming frequency for three horizontal layers and three vertical columns of a water test tank illuminated by a light source located above the central surface of the tank. In the 1 h session, zebrafish in the control group preferred the bottom layer the most and the center column the least. Zebrafish treated with 2-20 ${\mu}M$ physostigmine were more likely to prefer the to layer than controls, and there were significant pairwise differences between physostigmine-treated zebrafish and controls, indicating the anxiolytic effect of physostigmine. Further, 10 and $20{\mu}M$ physostigmine-treated zebrafish no longer avoided the center column. Scopolamine had no anxiolytic effect on bottom-dwelling and light-avoidance behaviors but suppressed the anxiolytic effect of physostigmine. In terms of their preference for various zones formed by layers and columns, zebrafish in the control group preferred the bottom left and right zones the most. Physostigmine had a positive effect on the preference for the top center zone, which was suppressed by scopolamine pretreatment. The results suggest that the level of anxiety in zebrafish can be reduced by activating acetylcholinergic neurotransmitter systems, which is mediated in part by muscarinic receptors.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.79-83
• /
• 2009

Exposure to early stressful adverse life events such as maternal and social separation plays an essential role in the development of the nervous system. Adolescent Sprague-Dawley rats that were separated on postnatal day 14 from their dam and litters (maternal social separation, MSS) showed hyperactivity and anxiolytic behavior in the open field test, elevated plus-maze test, and forced-swim test. Biologically, the number of astrocytes was significantly increased in the prefrontal cortex of MSS adolescent rats. The hyperactive and anxiolytic phenotype and biological alteration produced by this MSS protocol may provide a useful animal model for investigating the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders of childhood-onset diseases, such as attention deficient hyperactive disorder.

• Journal of the korean academy of Pediatric Dentistry
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.55-66
• /
• 2005

Cnidii Rhizoma (CR) was subjected to extraction with 70% methanol and tested to determine whether it has anxiolytic activity in mouse by employing staircase and rotarod tests. In addition, to understand the mechanism of anxiolytic action, CR, picrotoxin, yohimbine, isoniazid and strychnine were utilized to deliniate the potential involvement of GABA and glycine receptors in the action of Cnidii Rhizoma. To gain insights into the safety of Cnidii Rhizoma extract, behavioral and MTT tests were carried out. The results were obtained as follows: 1. CR extract had little effect on climbing numbers in the stair case test. 2. CR extract had considerable anti-anxiety effects as evidenced by the reduction of rearing numbers in the stair case test. 3. CR extract had little effect on muscle relaxation. 4. Anxiolytic actions of CR extract appeared to be mediated by glycine receptor activation. 5. Cytotoxicity in the neuronal cell was not observed and no strange behaviors were found. In short, these results indicate that CR extract has the ability to exert anxiolytic activity, possibly by activating glycine receptor with little side effects in mouse.