Anxiety is one of the commonest psychiatric disorders and a large number of medicinal plants have been explored to treat this disorder. Anxiolytic-like action of methanolic extract of the seeds of Solanum torvum (ST) were studied in Swiss albino mice using elevated plus maze (EPM), light and dark transition apparatus (LDA), hole board apparatus (HBA) and marble burying test (MBT).In addition, the effect of Prazocin (62.5 µg/kg, i.p.), an alpha adrenoceptor antagonist; p-chlorophenylalanine (100 mg/kg, i.p.), an inhibitor of serotonin synthesis and haloperidol (50 µg/kg, i.p.), a D2 receptor antagonist on anxiolytic-like effect of ST in above four models were also studied. The effect of ST on PTZ (60 mg/kg, i.p) induced seizures was also studied. Methanolic extract of Solanum torvum (ST-10, 30 and 100 mg/kg) and its ethyl acetate fraction (EAF-10, 30 mg/kg) showed significant increase in open arm exploration, time spent in lit zone, number of head dips and significant decrease in no. of marbles buried in EPM, LDA, HBA and MBT respectively. Prazosin, p-chlorophenylalanine and haloperidol significantly reversed the ST induced anxiolytic effect in EPM, LDA, HBA and MBT. The extracts also protected animal against PTZ-induced seizures. These results suggest that anxiolytic like effect of ST facilitated the effects of adrenergic, serotonergic, dopaminergic and GABAminergic systems.
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