ACUTE ANXIOLYTIC ACTIVITY OF AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF TERMINALIA CHEBULA FRUIT PULP IN RATS

Anxiety is a general term for several disorders that cause nervousness, fear, apprehension and worry. These disorders affect how we feel and behave and they can even manifest as real physical symptoms. Mild anxiety is vague and unsettling, while severe anxiety can be extremely debilitating, having a serious impact on daily life.When anxiety becomes excessive, it may fall under the classification of an anxiety disorder. Most of the times, benzodiazepines (BZDs) remains the major class of compounds used in anxiety. Although BZDs are safe in short term treatment for anxiety, on long term therapy they cause many adverse psychological and physical effects. In the present study, we have attempted to evaluate the acute anxiolytic activity of aqueous extract of Terminalia chebula Fruit Pulp (AETCFP) by using Elevated Plus Maze model in rats. The rats weighing 150–200gm were divided into 5 groups containing 6 animals for each dose and were housed for 10 days prior to experiment. For acute study, the control (1% Gum acacia), test drug AETCFP (9, 18 and 36mg/ kg) and standard drug Diazepam (1.0mg/kg) were administered orally one hour before behavioral experiment using Elevated Plus Maze. The results suggest that, behavioral disinhibitory effects of AETCFP exhibited anxiolytic activity at the dose of 18mg/kg comparable to diazepam.