Hypnotic effect of salvia reuterana boiss for treatment of insomnia

Insomnia, which is difficulty in initiating and maintaining sleep, is a very common experience for many people. Considering the increasing interest in medicinal plants in the past decade, many plants such as Coriandrum sativum, Salvia leriifolia, Salvia reuterana and Stachys lavanduli folia have been used in Iranian traditional medicine to abate insomnia. The present study was designed to investigate hypnotic effect of Salvia reuterana on male mice. Ethanolic extract of S. reuterana was prepared. Five groups of 6 animals each were pretreated with vehicle, Salvia extract [50, 100 and 250 mg/kg; i.p.] or diazepam [0.5mg/kg; i.p.] 30 minutes before ketamine injection [100 mg/kg, i.p.]. The latency and total sleeping times were recorded to determine the hypnotic effect of the extract. The results indicated that ethanolic extract of S. reuterana, reduced the latency time and induced the total sleeping time in a dose dependent manner, compared to saline group. The present study suggests that S. reuterana produces hypnotic effect which can be evaluated clinically

Persian herbal medicines with anxiolytic properties

Anxiety disorders are amongst the most popular diseases which interfere with normal life. Benzodiazepines are used as a first line of treatment, but difficulties with pharmacotherapy of anxiety disorders such as dependence and low response rate, encourage researchers to find new approaches. From the past, the role of medicinal plants have been a subject of intense interest. In this respect, Citrus aurantium, Coriandrum sativum, Crocus sativus, Echium amoenum, Nepeta persica Boiss, Stachys lavandulifolia and Salix aegyptiaca are widely used by Iranian population. This review summarized the information on Iranian plant species that have been explored for their potential anti-anxiety profile using validated animal models, doses and possible mechanism