Behavioral Effects of Acute and Chronic Oral Administration of Barakol in Rats
Chatsri Deachapunya PhD*, Watchareewan Thongsaard PhD*
Affiliation : * Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Srinakharinwirot University, Bangkok, Thailand
Introduction: Barakol, an active constituent extracted from Cassia siamea, has been shown to have anxiolytic
effects similar to diazepam when treated intraperitoneally.
Objective : Acute and chronic oral administrations of barakol on anxiolytic, locomotor and exploratory
behaviors were examined in rats using an elevated plus maze followed by a holeboard apparatus in comparison
with the anxiolytic diazepam.
Material and Method: Male Wistar rats were divided into the acute and chronic treatment groups. The
acutely-treated rats were given orally with vehicle control (distilled water, p.o.), diazepam (5 mg/kg, p.o.) and
barakol (10, 30 and 100 mg/kg, p.o.) while the chronically-treated rats received the same treatment for 30
consecutive days. The anxiolytic behavior was tested on the elevated plus maze for 5 min and immediately
followed by the holeboard to test for the directed exploratory behavior for 10 min.
Results : Acute and chronic oral administration of barakol (10, 30 and 100 mg/kg, p.o.) produced no significant
changes in anxiolytic parameters tested on the elevated plus maze compared to diazepam which significantly
increased the percentage of the open/total time and the time spent on the open arms. On the other hand, all
parameters tested using the holeboard were not affected by barakol or diazepam when given acutely. When
given chronically, all doses of barakol significantly decreased the number of head-dips and the total time
spent head-dipping with no changes in the number of grooms or rears per minute.
Conclusion : Acute and chronic oral administration of barakol had no anxiolytic and locomotor effects.
However, it exerted a sedative effect as shown by a reduction in the directed exploratory behaviors.
Keywords : Administration, Oral, Anti-anxiety agents, Barakol, Cassia, Diazepam, Plant extracts, Plants, M edicinal, Rats
