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Pathological anxiety is one of the most common emotional disorders and treatment of phobias or panic attacks is still not trivial. To our knowledge, no scientific data is available concerning the efficacy of ethanolic extract of leaves of Vitex negundo (VNE) in animal tests of anxiety. This study was carried out to compare the anxiolytic potential of ethanolic extract of leaves of Vitex negundo and compared with standard diazepam (3 mg/kg, i.p.). Acute effects of diazepam and a ethanolic extract of leaves of Vitex negundo preparation for anxiolytic activity compared to their respective controls, were examined in mice using the elevated plus maze (X-maze). The time spent on open arms, open-arm visits, distance travelled in open and closed arms, sleep induction, motor co-ordination and locomotion parameters describing the risk assessment were evaluated. VNE (200, 300 mg/kg, i.p.) affected the behavior measured in the X-maze test, inducing an anxiolytic like behavior similar to diazepam. These data support the use of ethanolic extract of leaves of Vitex negundo in the treatment of anxiety and could be useful in primary medical care. Further study need to be done to characterize active phytoconstituents.

Keywords

Anxiolytic, Nirgudi, Sleep Induction, Vitex negundo

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