title: Psychopharmacological screening of Pfaffia glomerata Spreng. (Amarathanceae) in rodents.
abstract: The alcoholic extract of Pfaffia glomerata roots (100, 500, 1000 mg/kg, intraperitoneally (i.p.), and 500, 1000, 1500 mg/kg, per os) was studied in several behavioral animal models for the evaluation of central activity: open field, barbiturate sleeping time, pentilenotetrazole (PTZ)-induced convulsions, elevated plus-maze, step-down inhibitory avoidance and forced swimming test. The acute treatment (500 mg/kg, i.p.) interfered with the open-field habituation, decreased sleep latency and increased barbiturate-induced sleeping time, protected partially the animals of PTZ-induced convulsions, decreased the memory retention in step-down inhibitory avoidance, and did not have an important effect in the elevated plus-maze test and forced swimming test. The same extract at 1000 mg/kg per os did not cause any effect in barbiturate sleeping time and pentilenotetrazole-induced convulsions models. Thus, the effect on the memory was deeper evaluated in the step-down inhibitory avoidance task. When administered by intraperitoneal route, the extract showed a dose-dependent effect causing full amnesia at 1000 mg/kg. On the other hand, when it was given by oral route at 500, 1000 and 1500 mg/kg, no influence on the memory retention was observed. These results suggest that the alcoholic extract of P. glomerata roots presents different effects depending on the route of administration: by i.p route, it seems to be a central nervous system depressant agent; by oral route, it seems to be ineffective, at least in the tested doses.
authors.affiliation: Centro de Memória, Departamento de Bioquímica, Instituto de Ci encias Básicas da Saúde (ICBS), Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), RS, Porto Alegre, Brazil.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: de-Paris
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Neves
authors.forename: J B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Salgueiro
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Quevedo
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Izquierdo
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Rates
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D007274:Injections, Intraperitoneal; D008297:Male; D008568:Memory / Q000187:drug effects; D051379:Mice; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000302:isolation & purification / Q000494:pharmacology*; D018517:Plant Roots; D011600:Psychopharmacology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts