Anxiolytic activity of Evolvulus alsinoides and Convulvulus pluricaulis in rodents

Figures & data

Figure 1.  HPTLC densitogram of ethanolic extract of Evolvulus alsinoides in chloroform:glacial acetic acid:methanol:water (60:32:12:8).

Figure 2.  HPTLC densitogram of ethanolic extract of Convolvulus pluricaulis in chloroform:glacial acetic acid:methanol:water (60:32:12:8).

Table 1.  Effect of test fractions on exploratory activity of the rats in elevated plus maze apparatus.

Treatment	Time spent (sec)		No. of entries
	Open arm	Closed arm	Open arm	Closed arm
Vehicle	27.33 ± 18.30	274.33 ± 16.73	1.00 ± 0.44	2.00 ± 0.44
Diazepam (1mg/kg i.p.)	131.77 ± 31.72**	168.83 ± 31.72**	9.00 ± 2.63*	5.00 ± 0.93
EAEA(100 mg/kg p.o.)	97.33 ± 3.51*	202.67 ± 3.52*	8.16 ± 1.57*	3.00 ± 0.36
EAAqs (100 mg/kg p.o.)	51.66 ± 6.48	248.67 ± 6.67	1.66 ± 0.33	2.83 ± 0.40
CPEA(100 mg/kg p.o.)	95.66 ± 9.95*	203.33 ± 9.93*	8.50 ± 2.04*	5.16 ± 1.16
CPAqs(100 mg/kg p.o.)	46.33 ± 13.62	253.67 ± 13.62	2.33 ± 0.49	3.83 ± 0.79
One way ANOVA	F = 5.561	F = 5.854	F = 6.170	F = 2.799
	P < 0.0001	P <  0.0007	P < 0.005	P < 0.0344

*P < 0.5, **P < 0.01 compared to vehicle. Df  (Degree of Freedom) = 5,35. One way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s test. All values are Mean ± SEM (n = 6).

EAEA, E. alsinoides ethyl acetate extract; EAAqs, E. alsinoides aqueous extract; CPEA, C. pluricaulis ethyl acetate extract; CPAqs, C. pluricaulis aqueous extract.

Table 2.  Effect of test fractions on open field exploratory behavior in rats.

Treatment	Ambulation	Rearings	Self grooming	Activity in center	Fecal droppings
Vehicle	31.50 ± 5.30	1.50 ± 0.56	4.16 ± 0.74	3.00 ± 0.36	5.00 ± 1.03
Diazepam(1 mg/kg i.p.)	79.00 ± 6.40***	10.16 ± 0.30***	9.83 ± 0.94***	9.83 ± 0.65***	0.83 ± 0.40**
EAEA (100 mg/kg p.o.)	53.83 ± 4.92*	5.83 ± 0.79**	7.66 ± 0.88*	5.50 ± 0.22**	1.83 ± 0.47*
EAAqs(100 mg/kg p.o.)	35.83 ± 3.64	4.16 ± 0.90	5.00 ± 0.96	3.00 ± 0.36	4.67 ± 0.71
CPEA (100 mg/kg p.o.)	58.00 ± 4.10**	8.33 ± 0.88***	8.16 ± 0.47*	7.33 ± 0.66***	2.00 ± 0.51
CPAqs (100 mg/kg p.o.)	37.33 ± 3.16	4.5 ± 0.42	5.16 ± 0.47	8.66 ± 0.33	5.00 ± 0.63
One way ANOVA	F = 14.585	F = 20.791	F = 8.262	F = 31.089	F = 8.110
	P < 0.0001	P <  0.0001	P < 0.0001	P < 0.0001	P < 0.0001

*P < 0.5, **P < 0.01, ***P < 0.001 compared to vehicle. Df = 5,35. One way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s test. All values are Mean ± SEM (n = 6).

EAEA, E. alsinoides ethyl acetate extract; EAAqs, E. alsinoides aqueous extract; CPEA, C. pluricaulis ethyl acetate extract; CPAqs, C. pluricaulis aqueous extract.

Table 3.  Effect of test fractions on rotarod performance.

Treatment	% Reduction in performance (sec)
Vehicle	4.04 ± 1.33
Diazepam (1mg/kg, i.p.)	78.65 ± 3.79 ***
EAEA (100 mg/kg, p.o.)	13.53 ± 3.08
EAEA (200 mg/kg, p.o.)	53.56 ± 6.76***
EAAqs (100 mg/kg, p.o.)	9.38 ± 2.01
EAAqs (200 mg/kg, p.o.)	4.82 ± 1.30
CPEA (100 mg/kg, p.o.)	13.35 ± 5.37
CPEA (200 mg/kg, p.o.)	69.56 ± 4.23***
CPAqs (100 mg/kg, p.o.)	8.05 ± 1.94
CPAqs (200 mg/kg, p.o.)	4.46 ± 1.95
One way ANOVA	F = 65.482
	Df = 9,59
	P <  0.0001

***P<0.001 compared to vehicle. One way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s test. All values are Mean ± SEM (n = 6).

EAEA, E. alsinoides ethyl acetate extract; EAAqs- E. alsinoides aqueous extract; CPEA, C. pluricaulis ethyl acetate extract; CPAqs, C. pluricaulis aqueous extract.

Figure 3.  Effects of test extracts on superoxide radical scavenging activity. EC50 values were computed and compared.