ANXIOLYTIC-LIKE EFFECTS OF SYRINGIC ACID: A BEHAVIORAL STUDY

Abstract

Objective: The current study investigated the possible anxiolytic-like effects of syringic acid (SA) administration against deltamethrin (DTM) exposure in rats subjected to behavioral tests. Materials and Methods: Wistar albino male rats weighing 250- 270 g were randomly divided into four groups as control (0.5 mg/kg corn oil), DTM (1.28 mg/kg), SA (25 mg/kg) and DTM+SA groups (1.28 mg/kg DTM, 25 mg/kg SA). Anxiety-like behaviors were evaluated by an open field test and a marble-burying test (Noldus Ethovision System). Results: The SA treatment revealed a significant effect on time spent in the inner zone (100.36±0.04 sec, F(3.36)=71.13, η2=0.877, p=0.0001, p<0.05), number of crossings in the center (21.42±1.23 (n), F(3.36)=13.13, η2=0.522, p=0.0056, p<0.05) and fecal scores (2.9±0.21(n), F(3.36)=51.51, η2=0.811, p<0.05) via the open field. SA treatment exhibited a significant difference in the marble test compared with the other groups (F(3.36)=77.64, η2=0.962, p<0.0001). Conclusions: The findings of this study represent the first step toward understanding the anxiolytic effects of SA, and our results suggest that SA treatment may be beneficial for anxiety-related disorders. Therefore, SA should be evaluated in a new drug design to increase the understanding of underlying anxiety disorders, and DTM may be a good resource for modeling anxiety behavior in Wistar rats.