Abstract
Erythrina velutina (EV) and Erythrina mulungu (EM), popularly used in Brazil as tranquilizing agents, were studied. The effects of acute and chronic oral treatment with a water:alcohol extract of EV (7:3, plant grounded stem bark; acute = 100, 200, 400 mg/kg; chronic = 50, 100, 200 mg/kg) were evaluated in rats (N = 11-12) submitted to the elevated T-maze (for avoidance and escape measurements) model of anxiety. This model was selected for its presumed capacity to elicit specific subtypes of anxiety disorders recognized in clinical practice: avoidance has been related to generalized anxiety and escape to panic. Additionally, animals were treated with the same doses of EV and EM (water:alcohol 7:3, inflorescence extract) and submitted to the forced swim test for the evaluation of antidepressant activity (N = 7-10). Both treatment regimens with EV impaired elevated T-maze avoidance latencies, without altering escape, in a way similar to the reference drug diazepam (avoidance 1, mean +/- SEM, acute study: 131.1 +/- 45.5 (control), 9.0 +/- 3.3 (diazepam), 12.7 +/- 2.9 (200 mg/kg), 28.8 +/- 15.3 (400 mg/kg); chronic study: 131.7 +/- 46.9 (control), 35.8 +/- 29.7 (diazepam), 24.4 +/- 10.4 (50 mg/kg), 29.7 +/- 11.5 (200 mg/kg)). Neither EV nor EM altered measurements performed in the forced swim test, in contrast to the reference drug imipramine that significantly decreased immobility time after chronic treatment. These results were not due to motor alterations since no significant effects were detected in an open field. These observations suggest that EV exerts anxiolytic-like effects on a specific subset of defensive behaviors which have been associated with generalized anxiety disorder.
Highlights
At least 110 species of the genus Erythrina have been identified [1] and many of them are native to the American continent [2].Erythrina plants produce alkaloids, flavonoids and terpenes [3,4] and are commonly used in folk medicine due to their tranquilizing effects [5]
Unlike that observed with the avoidance measurements, no significant effects were detected regarding the measurements of escape from the open arms of the ETM (Figure 1B)
The data presented here show that both acute and chronic oral treatment with a water-alcohol Erythrina velutina (EV) extract had anxiolytic effects on the inhibitory avoidance task in the ETM, and that these effects were similar to those obtained with the reference drug DZP
Summary
At least 110 species of the genus Erythrina have been identified [1] and many of them are native to the American continent [2].Erythrina plants produce alkaloids, flavonoids and terpenes [3,4] and are commonly used in folk medicine due to their tranquilizing effects [5]. Acute treatment with EM altered both inhibitory avoidance latencies in the ETM and the behavior of rats in the light/dark transition model, in a way similar to DZP. Since these two anxiety-related responses have been shown to be sensitive to low doses of BZD and to the serotonin (5-HT) 1A agonist, buspirone, in terms of psychopathology they have been related to generalized anxiety, a clinical condition which responds to treatment with these pharmacological compounds. This effect, which was similar to that observed with some antidepressant drugs in the model, i.e., imipramine and fluoxetine [9,10], used in clinical settings to treat panic disorder, suggests that chronically administered EM might possess both anxiolytic and panicolytic-like activity
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