title: Investigation of sedative and hypnotic effects of Amygdalus communis L. extract: behavioral assessments and EEG studies on rat.
abstract: Amygdalus communis L. (almond) has been traditionally used as a natural medicine in the treatment of various diseases. The present research studied the sedative and hypnotic effects of the aqueous fraction of seeds of almond in rats. In order to investigate these effects, a combination of behavioral methods (open field test and loss of righting reflex test) as well as quantitative and analytic methods (EEG and EMG) were applied. The results of the open field test showed that a dose of 400 mg/kg of the almond extract significantly inhibited the locomotion activity of rats compared to normal. The results also illustrated that the almond extract affected pentobarbital-induced sleep through increasing the number of fallings asleep and prolongation of sleeping time. Analysis of EEG recordings of the animals which had received the same dose of the almond extract as the open field test demonstrated marked changes in the animals' sleep architecture. Significant prolongation of total sleeping time as well as significant increase in NREM sleep were the main observed changes compared to the normal condition. These results suggest that the aqueous extract of almond has significant sedative and hypnotic effects, which may support its therapeutic use for insomnia.
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Fatemeh
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Abdollahnejad
authors.affiliation: School of Traditional Medicine, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahmoud
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mosaddegh
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacognosy, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kamalinejad
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Javad
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Mirnajafi-Zadeh
authors.affiliation: Department of Biomedical Engineering, Shahed University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
authors.forename: Forough
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Najafi
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, School of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, 2660 Vali-Asr Ave., Tehran, 1991953381, Iran. m.faizi@sbmu.ac.ir.
authors.forename: Mehrdad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Faizi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004569:Electroencephalography; D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008124:Locomotion / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D010424:Pentobarbital / Q000494:pharmacology; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D000068181:Prunus dulcis; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D006993:Hypnotics and Sedatives; D010936:Plant Extracts; D010424:Pentobarbital
keywords: Amygdalus communis L.; Aqueous extract; Sedative and hypnotic effects; Traditional medicine