ABSTRACT
The experiments on white Wistar rats have shown that Cimicifuga dahurica (TURCZ) Maxim. tincture and Schizonepeta multifi da (L.)Briq. extract have anxiolytic effect. Cimicifuga dahurica tincture stimulates exploratory activity of animals in the open fi eld test increasing the number of rearings and entries in the central area of the open fi eld and decreasing the number of boles and grooming acts. The Schizonepeta multifi da dry extract in the range of 50 to 300 mg/kg increases the number of water intake in the Vogel confl ict test. The effi cacy of the tested remedies – Cimicifuga dahurica tincture (at the doses of 0.5 and 1.0 ml/kg) and Schizonepeta multifi da extract (in the range of 100-300 mg/ kg) was higher on some parameters than that of valerian preparations. Key words: anxiolytic effect, Cimicifuga dahurica (TURCZ) Maxim. tincture, Schizonepetam multifi da (L.) Briq. extract. Introduction The development of medicinal remedies for the correction of functional impairments of the nervous system is important due to the prevalence of neuro-psychic diseases. At the same time, widely used anxiolytics negatively affect the human body causing hyper-sedation, myorelaxation, etc. [1, 3, 8]. Therefore, the plant remedies which have few side effects are prospective for pharmacological correction of the nervous system disturbances as alternative therapy or auxiliary remedy for increasing the effi cacy of receptor preparations [2, 5]. In this context the perennial plants Cimicifuga dahurica (TURCZ) Maxim. and Schizonepeta multifi da (L.) Briq. used in folk medicine as sedatives and for headaches are of great interest in the therapy of anxiety disorders [6, 7]. The aim of the study was to evaluate the infl uence of Cimicifuga dahurica tincture and Schizonepeta multifi da dry extract on the behavior of white rats in test systems characterizing anxiolytic effect of the medicinal remedy.