Montanoa frutescens and Montanoa grandiflora extracts reduce anxiety-like behavior during the metestrus-diestrus phase of the ovarian cycle in Wistar rats.

Juan Francisco Rodríguez-Landa,Julio Vicente-Serna,María De Jesús Rovirosa-Hernández,Luis Alfredo Rodríguez-Blanco,Francisco García-Orduña,Miguel Carro-Juárez

doi:10.1155/2014/938060

Juan Francisco Rodríguez-Landa, Julio Vicente-Serna + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.1155/2014/938060

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Abstract

In previous studies, the anxiolytic-like effects of Montanoa tomentosa and Montanoa frutescens were reported in male rats, but the potential anxiolytic-like effects of Montanoa plants during the different phases of the ovarian cycle in rats remain to be explored. The anxiolytic-like effects of the aqueous crude extracts of M. frutescens (25 and 50 mg/kg) and M. grandiflora (25 and 50 mg/kg) in the elevated plus maze were investigated in Wistar rats during the estrous cycle and compared with 2 mg/kg diazepam as a reference anxiolytic drug. To investigate any motor effect (i.e., hyperactivity, no changes, or hypoactivity) associated with the treatments, the rats were evaluated in the open field test. The M. frutescens (25 and 50 mg/kg) and M. grandiflora (50 mg/kg) extracts exerted anxiolytic-like effects during the metestrus-diestrus phase, similar to diazepam, without disrupting spontaneous motor activity. No significant effects of the extracts were detected in either behavioral test during the proestrus-estrus phase, whereas diazepam produced motor hypoactivity in the open field test. These results indicate that the M. frutescens and M. grandiflora extracts possess anxiolytic-like effects that depend on the ovarian cycle phase, supporting the Mexican ancient medicinal use of these plants to ameliorate anxiety disorders.

Highlights

Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most common psychiatric disorders, affecting a high percentage of the general population around the world [1]
The post hoc test showed that, similar to diazepam, rats treated with 25 and 50 mg/kg of the M. frutescens extract and 50 mg/kg of the M. grandiflora extracts during the metestrus-diestrus phase spent more time in the open arms compared with rats in the metestrus-diestrus phase in the control group
The present study investigated the influence of ovarian cycle phases on anxiety-like behavior in the elevated plus maze in female rats treated with M. frutescens and M. grandiflora aqueous crude extracts, and the results were compared with the effects of diazepam

Summary

Introduction

Generalized anxiety disorder is one of the most common psychiatric disorders, affecting a high percentage of the general population around the world [1]. Anxiety disorders possess marked gender differences and occur more often in women than in men [2,3,4,5]. The reproductive cycle of women exhibits fluctuations in plasma and brain steroid hormone concentrations (e.g., estradiol and progesterone, among others) that are related to anxiety and mood swings. Low concentrations of steroid hormones are associated with irritability, anxiety, or depressive symptoms and occur during the premenstrual, postpartum, and climacteric periods [6,7,8]. Rats exhibit a predisposition to display more anxiety- and depressive-like states when lower concentrations of ovarian hormones are observed during the metestrus-diestrus phase of the ovarian cycle. During the ovarian cycle phases (i.e., proestrus-estrus phase) when high concentrations of steroid hormones are observed, anxietyand depressive-like behaviors diminish [9, 10]

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