In the present study, the anxiolytic and sedative-hypnotic activities of polygalasaponins extracted from Polygala tenuifolia Willdenow (Polygalaceae) were determined in mice using hole-board, elevated plus maze, open field, and sodium pentobarbital-induced hypnosis tests. Moreover, the acute toxicity of polygalasaponins was also estimated in mice. Sixty minutes after p.o. administration of polygalasaponins (40, 80, 160mg/kg) in mice, the central crossing counts and percentage of central/total ambulation significantly increased and the number of rearings and defecations was evidently inhibited in the open field test. Polygalasaponins also increased the head-dips of mice in the hole-board test and the time spent by mice in the open arms of the X-maze, prolonged sleep duration and shortened sleep latency in the test of synergetic effect on sodium pentobarbital (45 and 25mg/kg, respectively). Acute toxic study showed the oral median lethal dose (LD 50) of polygalasaponins was 3.95g/kg and 0% lethal dose 2.6g/kg. These results suggest that polygalasaponin possesses evident anxiolytic and sedative-hypnotic activities and has a relatively safe dose range, which supports the use of Polygala tenuifolia root as an anxiolytic and sedative-hypnotic drug in folk medicine. © 2010 Informa UK Ltd.
CITATION STYLE
Yao, Y., Jia, M., Wu, J. G., Zhang, H., Sun, L. N., Chen, W. S., & Rahman, K. (2010). Anxiolytic and sedative-hypnotic activities of polygalasaponins from Polygala tenuifolia in mice. Pharmaceutical Biology, 48(7), 801–807. https://doi.org/10.3109/13880200903280042
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