title: Anxiolytic effects of Plumeria rubra var. acutifolia (Poiret) L. flower extracts in the elevated plus-maze model of anxiety in mice.
abstract: Interest in alternative medicine and plant-derived medications that affect the "mind" is growing rapidly since last two decades. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of ethanolic extract of flower of Plumeria rubra (PR) along with its fractions in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) model of anxiety. The P. rubra extract or its fractions was administered orally to male Swiss mice, at graded doses, 1h prior to behavioural assessment. The PR extract at the dose of 100mg/kg p.o., significantly increased the time spent in the open arms of the EPM. Further, the anxiolytic properties of hexane, chloroform and butanolic soluble and insoluble fractions at one-fifth of the original dose were also observed in the EPM task. Out of which butanol insoluble fraction showed significant anxiolytic activity comparable to standard anxiolytic drug, diazepam. Further, pretreatment with crude ethanolic extract and butane insoluble fraction showed no significant effects in the horizontal activity, total distance travelled and stereotypy count in the animal activity monitor and had no motor in-coordination side effects in the rotarod test in mice. These observations suggest that the flower extract of P. rubra and its insoluble butanolic fraction might possess significant anxiolytic potential to be pursued further for drug development process.
authors: Division of Pharmacology, Central Drug Research Institute, CSIR, Lucknow 226001, Uttar Pradesh, India.
authors: Manavi
authors: M
authors: Chatterjee
authors: Rajkumar
authors: R
authors: Verma
authors: Vijai
authors: V
authors: Lakshmi
authors: Shibani
authors: S
authors: Sengupta
authors: Anil Kumar
authors: AK
authors: Verma
authors: Abbas Ali
authors: AA
authors: Mahdi
authors: Gautam
authors: G
authors: Palit
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001008:Anxiety Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy*; D029062:Apocynaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D035264:Flowers / Q000737:chemistry*; D018782:Maze Learning; D051379:Mice; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D045442:Rotarod Performance Test; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts