Evaluation of Sedative & Hypnotic Activities of Thysanolaena Maxima by Hole Board Method

Abstract

Anxiety affects one-eighth of the total population worldwide and has become an important area of research in psychopharmacology during this decade. Benzodiazepines (BZDs) are the major class of compounds used in anxiety and they remain the most commonly prescribed treatment for anxiety. However, the realization that BZDs have a narrow safety margin has prompted many researchers to evaluate new compounds in the hope of identifying other anxiolytic drugs with fewer unwanted side effects. The plant Thysanolaena maxima has been used by the natives in Tao Dam Forest, Bangkok and Khashi traditional healers and village folks in Meghalaya. It is used as a traditional medicine for the treatment of cancer, In case of Red eye and Dirty, in treatment of Dysentery, to facilitate Delivery, in veterinary medicine and as mouth wash in fever. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the anxiolytic activity of methanol extract of Thysanolaena maxima by hole-board method. The hole board test is useful for modeling anxiety in animals, in this test an anxiolytic-like state may be reflected by an increase in head dipping behaviors. Groups of mice were treated orally with CMC (1g/100ml), diazepam (1 mg/kg), and T. maxima (200mg/kg & 400 mg/kg). Evaluations were done in 0 minutes and then 30 minutes post-treatment and the duration of observation was mostly 5 min. In the holeboard test, mice were observed for number/duration of head dips and number of head poke. A significant increase in the exploratory head-dipping behavior was observed after treatment with 200mg/kg and 400 mg/kg of Thysanolaena maxima extract, thus reinforcing the hypothesis that it has anxiolytic-like activity. Based on the results of the present study, it can be concluded that that all the extracts of Thysanolaena maxima possesses potent anxiolytic or CNS depressant properties, which support its use in traditional medicine. However, further studies are needed to understand the exact mechanisms of action and to isolate the compound (s) responsible for such activity.