TY - JOUR ID - 4851 TI - Possible Modulation of the Anexiogenic Effects of Vitex Agnus-castus by the Serotonergic System JO - Iranian Journal of Basic Medical Sciences JA - IJBMS LA - en SN - 2008-3866 AU - Yaghmaei, Parichehr AU - Oryan, Shahrbanoo AU - Fatehi Gharehlar, Laleh AU - Salari, Ali-Akbar AU - Solati, Jalal AD - Department of Animal Biology, Science and Research Campus, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran AD - Tarbiat Moalem University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran AD - Department of Biology, North Tehran Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran AD - Department of Biology, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran Y1 - 2012 PY - 2012 VL - 15 IS - 2 SP - 768 EP - 776 KW - Anxiety KW - Rat KW - Serotonergic system KW - Vitex agnus-castus DO - 10.22038/ijbms.2012.4851 N2 - Objective(s) There is well documented evidence for the increase in widespread use of complementary and alternative medicine in the treatment of physical and psychiatric symptoms and disorders within the populations. In the present study, we investigated the influence of Vitex agnus-castus (vitex) on anxiety-like behaviors of rats. Materials and Methods Elevated plus maze which is one of the methods used for testing anxiety is used in our present study. Rats were orally administrated with vitex for two week. The anxiety test was carried out after two weeks of oral administration of vitex. For evaluating interaction of vitex and serotonergic systems, rats were anaesthetized with ketamine and special cannulas were inserted stereotaxically into the third ventricle (TV) of brain. After 1 week recovery, the effects of serotonegic agents on anxiety were studied. Results Oral administration of vitex (100, 200, 300 mg/kg) for two weeks induced an anxiogenic-like effect which was shown through specific decreases in the percentages of open arm time (OAT %) and open arm entries (OAE %). Intra-TV infusion of 5HT1A receptor agonist, 8-OH-DPAT (5, 10 and 25 ng/rat) increased OAT% and OAE%, indicating anxiolytic–like behavior. However, injection of 5HT1A receptor antagonist NAN190 (0.25, 0.5 and 1 µg/rat) produced anxiogenic-like behavior. The most effective dose of 8-OH-DPAT                (10 ng/rat), when co-administered with vitex (100, 200, 300 mg/kg), attenuated the anxiogenic-like effects of vitex significantly. Injection of the less effective dose of NAN190 (0.5 µg/rat), in combination with vitex (100, 200, 300 mg/kg), potentiate anxiogenic effects of vitex. Conclusions These results illustrate that 5HT1A receptor is involved in the anxiogenic effects of vitex. UR - https://ijbms.mums.ac.ir/article_4851.html L1 - https://ijbms.mums.ac.ir/article_4851_0d7d6745448108fdccdac87b93f18a91.pdf ER -