Anxiolytic and Hypnotic Effects of Aqueous and Ethanolic Extracts ofAerial Parts of Echium italicum L. in Mice

Research in the area of herbal psychopharmacology has clearly improvedin recent decades. self-administration of herbal medicines has been the most populartherapeutic alternative to standard medicine.objectives: since the extract of echium amoenum exhibits an anxiolytic effect, the aimof this study is to evaluate the anxiolytic and hypnotic effects in mice of the aqueousand ethanolic extracts of aerial parts of e. italicum, a member of the boraginaceae family.materials and methods: mice were administered the agents intraperitoneally beforethe start of the experiments for evaluation of hypnotic activity (induced by sodiumpentobarbital, 30 mg/kg, i.p.), anxiolytic activity (elevated plus-maze [epm] test), locomotoractivity (open field test), and motor coordination (rotarod test).result: the ethanolic and aqueous extracts of e. italicum, at doses of 1.2 and 2.1 g/kg,increased the percentage of time-spent and the percentage of arm entries in the openarms of the epm and decreased the percentage of time-spent in the closed arms of theepm. moreover, both extracts decreased the pentobarbital-induced latency to sleep andsignificantly increased the total sleeping time induced by pentobarbital. in addition,locomotor activity was affected by aqueous extracts and ethanolic extract (at higherdoses). both extracts showed no effect in the rotarod test.conclusions: these results suggest that both ethanolic and aqueous extracts of e. italicummay have anxiolytic effects and sedative activity but no effect on muscle relaxation