Abstract
The most common sleep disorder is insomnia and about 35% of all people suffer from this disturbance. A trend in using herbal medications for this disorder is increasing globally. Current study aimed to investigate the hypnotic characteristics of Smyrnium cordifolium Boiss (SCB) plant extract. From an experimental study, 96 healthy male Wistar rats were equally divided into 12 groups. For hypnotic evaluations, a negative control with normal saline (10 mg/kg), a positive control with diazepam (1 mg/kg) and 3 treatment groups with different dosages of plant extract (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg) were selected and injected intraperitoneally. Sleep start time and sleep duration time were then measured in different groups. For relaxant effects of the plant, a negative control with normal saline (10 mg/kg), 3 positive controls with diazepam (0.125, 0.25 and 0.5 mg/kg) and 3 treatment groups of plant extract (200, 300 and 400 mg/kg) were allocated and injected intraperitoneally. Finally, the mean time of sleeping, sleep start time and holding bar (marker of muscle relation) were compared between treatment and control groups appropriately. SCB plant extract (300 mg/kg), compared to diazepam and normal saline (N/S) shortened the sleep start time significantly (p < 0.001). All 3 dosages of SCB plant extract (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg), compared to diazepam and normal saline, increased sleep duration significantly (p < 0.001) and as the SCB dosage was increased the sleep duration was increased too. The relaxant effects of the plant extract did not indicate a significant difference. SCB plant extract as a natural product showed hypnotic effects even better than diazepam and needs to be investigated in human by further studies. Key words: Smyrnium cordifolium Boiss, hypnotic, insomnia, relaxant, Iran. 
Highlights
One of the essential needs for human body is sleep phenomenon
96 healthy male Wistar rats, prepared from Pastor Institution in Iran and kept at the same conditions, dampness (38% ± 2), light (12 h darkness and 12 h lightness intermittently), temperature (22 ± 2°) and freely access to food and water, were divided into 12 equal groups among them, 5 groups were allocated for hypnotic evaluation and 7 groups for investigation of the relaxant effects of the plant
Rats in treatment groups were firstly injected with the different dosages of plant extract (100, 200 and 300 mg/kg appropriately) and 60 min later the dosages of plant extracts were injected for the relevant groups. 30 mg/kg of pentobarbital was injected for rats in different groups, 90 min after the second injection (Table 1)
Summary
One of the essential needs for human body is sleep phenomenon. Sleep is a dynamic time, necessary for mental and physical restoration during which some physiological processes such as recovering, remaking of. Smyrnium cordifolium Boiss is a spring plant which was traditionally used as diuretic and expellant for kidney stones (Ahvazi et al, 2012) and an antibacterial effect of this plant has been reported (Ulubelen et al, 1985) This plant is grown in Central Asia, Iran, Turkey and West of Afghanistan and it is widely distributed in Iran, in Ilam Province and is used as an herbal medication in human and as a feed by herbivorous animals (Mehrabi and Mehrabi, 2011). As consumption of this plant caused a moderate drowsiness and confusion among local consumers, the author decided to investigate the hypnotic and relaxant effects of S. cordifolium Boiss in rats in comparison with the current medications used for these purposes (Figure 1)
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