Efficacy of Aconite and Ignatia as an anxiolytic- In vivo study

Abstract

Anxiety disorders are the most common form of psychiatric disorders and start at an early age. The homeopathic system of complementary treatment is increasingly used by the general population. Ultra-diluted Aconite and Ignatia are homeopathic medicines used by clinicians for the treatment of anxiety. The objective of this study is to test the efficacy of Aconite 12CH and Ignatia 12CH on experimental anxiety models of Wistar rats subjected to chronic unpredictable stress. 30 Wistar rats were divided into 5 groups of Control, Stress, Vehicle, Aconite and Ignatia group with 6 animals in each group. All the groups were subjected to chronic unpredictable stress except the control group. The last two groups were fed Aconite and Ignatia through oral gavage daily for 5 weeks. Following this, a behavioral and biochemical assessment was done. It was observed that the Aconite and Ignatia treated animals showed better weight gain, but the behavioral and biochemical assessment did not show any significant change. Hence it was inferred that ultra-diluted Aconite and Ignatia though an anxiolytic used clinically, did not decrease anxiety in Wistar rats which were subjected to chronic unpredictable stress.