ABSTRACT
The effects of three species of Hypericum (H.) on mice motor activity were compared in an automated open field test. Methanol extracts of H. perforatum L., H. hircinum L. and H. perfoliatum L. were tested at doses ranging from 2.5 to 200 mg i.p. H. hircinum decreased locomotion at most dose levels. Moreover, a dose of 200 mg/kg of all three herbal species sharply decreased motor activity. Ten mg/kg of H. perforatum, a dose that is comparable to that endowed with antidepressant effects in humans, tended to increase exploration and stereotypic activity and to decrease immobility. The study suggests that there are differences in the neuropharmacological actions of the three plant extracts. However, common constituents might explain the reduced motor activity observed at high dose levels.
Subject(s)
Antidepressive Agents/pharmacology , Behavior, Animal/drug effects , Hypericum , Phytotherapy , Plant Extracts/pharmacology , Animals , Antidepressive Agents/administration & dosage , Antidepressive Agents/therapeutic use , Dose-Response Relationship, Drug , Locomotion/drug effects , Male , Maze Learning/drug effects , Mice , Mice, Inbred Strains , Plant Extracts/administration & dosage , Plant Extracts/therapeutic useABSTRACT
Fruits of Heteropterys glabra (Malpighiaceae) are used in South-American folk medicine as a sedative and anxiolytic agent. In present research, we studied neurophysiological effects of the plant. Ethanolic extract was assayed in DBA/2J mice in order to evaluate the sleep wakefulness cycle, electroencephalogram (EEG) and visual evoked potentials (VEP). The results of our experiments indicated that the EtOH extract of the plant induced a reduction of motor activity and alterations of EEG and VEP parameters, supporting the possibility that the plant acts as an anxiolytic/sedative agent, thus, confirming its usual assumption and the traditional use.
Subject(s)
Electroencephalography/drug effects , Evoked Potentials, Visual/drug effects , Malpighiaceae , Animals , Electroencephalography/methods , Evoked Potentials, Visual/physiology , Fruit , Male , Mice , Mice, Inbred DBA , Photic Stimulation/methods , Plant Extracts/isolation & purification , Plant Extracts/pharmacologyABSTRACT
The aqueous root extract of Ailanthus altissima showed allelopathic activity against radish (Raphanus sativus L. cv. "Saxa"), garden cress (Lepidium sativum L.), and purslane (Portulaca oleracea L.) seeds. A bioassay-oriented purification of active extracts, chromatographic fractions, and compounds demonstrated dose-dependent activity on germination and radicle growth of test seeds; radish seed was the most sensitive to allelochemicals. Active compounds have been isolated: ailanthone, ailanthinone, chaparrine, and ailanthinol B (quassinoid derivatives); the alkaloid 1-methoxycanthin-6-one is not active. The compound with greatest inhibitory activity is ailanthone. The data obtained suggest a possible use of tree-of-heaven root extracts or of its active constituents as natural herbicides.
