Anxiolytic effect of aridanin isolated from Tetrapleura tetraptera in mice

Abstract

The study was carried out to investigate the anxiolytic properties of aridanin isolated from Tetrapleura tetraptera in mice. Elevated plus-maze was used to investigate the effect. The possible involvement of the GABA A-benzodiazepine receptor complex was also investigated using flumazenil. Aridanin at doses of 5 and 10 mg/kg, i.p. administered 30 min prior induced anxiolytic effect expressed by increase number of entries in and time spent in the open arms and percentage of open arm entries and decrease number of entries and time spent in the closed arms. The treatment of mice with flumazenil (2.0 mg/kg, i.p.) 15 min before the administration of aridanin (10 mg/kg, i.p.) blocked the aridanin induced anxiolytic effect. It was found out that aridanin induced an anxiolytic effect in mice which may be mediated through interaction with GABA A-benzodiazepine receptor complex.