Anti-anxiety Effect of Aqueous Extract of Cistanche Tubulosa in Mice

Objectives: Cistanche tubulosa (CT) is a Chinese traditional medicine, used in treatment of insomnia, pain, fatigue and amnesia. The percentage of elderly people that live to be over one-hundred years old in this region is the highest in China, over three times that of Okinawa Prefecture in Japan which is famous for its people’s longevity. The present study was aimed to investigate the effect ofaqueous extract of CT on anxiety in the mice. Materials Methods: 24 adult male mice with 20-25 g body weight divided randomly to 4 groups: Control and Treatment 1 (T1), 2 (T2) and 3 (T3) groups. The aqueous extractof CT was administered orally at the dose of 0.1, 0.3, and 1 mg/kg, to T1, T2 and T3 groupsrespectively. The gavage was done once a day for seven days. Then, anxiety in mice has been measured by elevatedplusmaze (EPM), which is considered as a reliable measurement instrument of animal anxiety-like behavior.Data were presented as means ± SEM and the means of 2 groups were compared by using t test. A P value smaller than 0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results: In EPM test, all of Treatments groups showed an increase in the time spend in open arms; however it was significant in T2 and T3 in comparison with control group (P 0.05).