Anti-anxiety effect of methanol extract of &lt;i&gt;Pericarpium zanthoxyli&lt;/i&gt; using a strychnine-sensitive glycine receptor model

Tae Eun Kim,Saehee Yoon,Sung-Jin Kim,Jung Hwa Jung

doi:10.4314/tjpr.v15i5.8

Abstract

Purpose: To determine if the methanol extract of Pericarpium zanthoxyli exerts anti-anxiety effects and also to explore any probable anti-anxiety mechanism in vivo . Methods: The staircase test, elevated plus maze test, rota-rod treadmill test and convulsions induced by strychnine and picrotoxin on mice were tested to identify potential mechanism of anti-anxiety activity of the plant extract. Results: The plant extract (10 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly reduced rearing numbers in the staircase test while it increased the time spent in the open arms as well as the number of entries to the open arms in the elevated plus maze test, suggesting that it has significant anti-anxiety activity. Furthermore, the extract inhibited strychnine-induced convulsion. However, it had little effect on picrotoxin-induced convulsion, suggesting that its anti-anxiety activity may be linked to strychnine-sensitive glycine receptor and not GABA receptor. Conclusion: These results suggest that the Pericarpium zanthoxyli extract may be beneficial for the control of anxiety. Keywords: Anti-anxiety, Pericarpium zanthoxyli , Glycine Receptor, GABA Receptor

Highlights

The genus Zanthoxylum has more than 200 species belonging to the Rutaceae family
Pericarpium zanthoxyli refers to the rind of dried fruits of Zanthoxylum bungeanum Max., Zanthoxylum schinifolium Sieb. et Zucc. and Zanthoxylum piperitum D.C. was mostly distributed in kindly provided by JW Pharmaceutical Co. (Korea) and China [2]
The Pericarpium zanthoxyli extract had little effect on the number of entries to closed arms (Figure 2B) whereas it caused an increase in the number of open arm entries (Figure 1A) by 2.4fold

Summary

Introduction

The genus Zanthoxylum has more than 200 species belonging to the Rutaceae family These species have been used as drugs in traditional medicine systems in Central, South, Southeast and East Asia [1]. It has been reported that Pericarpium zanthoxyli has insecticidal activity [10], antioxidative activity [2] and inhibits the early stages of adipogenic differentiation [11]. It has effects on antagonizing ulcer, inflammatory and functional diarrheas, protecting liver and correcting gastrointestinal disorder and analgesic effect to relieve various abdominal pains [9]

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Results

Conclusion