Comparative study of the sedative and pre-anesthetic effects of methanol extract of Atropa belladonna, Artemisia siberia, Melissa officinalis and diazepam in rats

Abstract

Medicinal plants Melissa officinalis (M. officinalis), Atropa belladonna (A. belladonna), and Artemisia siberia (A. siberia) have been widely used in traditional medicine in Iran and other countries due to their numerous ethno-pharmacological effects. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to compare the sedative and pre-anesthetic effects of, M. officinali, A. belladonna, A. siberia and diazepam in rats. For this purpose, during an experimental study, 150 female Wistar rats which were allocated into different experimental groups received intra-peritoneal injections of 150, 300 and 450 mg per kilogram of  A. belladonna extract, 50, 200 and 350 mg per kilogram of M. officinalis extract, 100, 200 and 400 mg per kilogram of A. siberia extract, 1.2 mg per kilogram of the drug diazepam and equal volumes of the chemical substance dimethyl sulfoxide as placebo. The obtained results showed a significant increase in the duration of sleep induced by ketamine, as well as a significant increase in the treatment groups with higher doses of the extract (p<0.01). The highest sedative and pre-anesthetic effects were observed in the doses of 450, 400, and 200 mg/kg of A. belladonna, A. siberia, and M. officinalis plant extracts respectively. According to the results, extracts of A. belladonna, A. siberia, and M. officinalis have significant sedative and pre-anesthetic effects.

Keywords

• atropa belladonna
• artemisia siberia
• diazepam
• melissa officinalis
• rat.