Neurobehavioral evaluation and phytochemical characterization of a series of argentine valerian species

CAROLINA MARCUCCI ; JUAN MANUEL ANSELMI RELATS ; HERNÁN GERÓNIMO BACH ; FABIOLA KAMECKI; BEATRIZ VARELA ; MARCELO WAGNER; VALENTINA PASTORE; NATALIA COLETTIS ; RAFAEL RICCO ; MARIEL MARDER

Heliyon

Elsevier Science BV

Año: 2020

Folkloric or galenic preparations of valerian roots and rhizomes have been used assedatives/anxiolytics and sleep inducers since ancient times. ?Valerianas? are plantsthat naturally grow in our region. Although some of them are used in folk medicine,they lack scientific information. We performed a comparative study of thephytochemical composition and the potential in vivo effects of ethanolic extracts ofargentine valerian species: Valeriana carnosa Sm., V. clarionifolia Phil. and V.macrorhiza Poepp. ex DC., from ?Patagonia Argentina?; V. ferax (Griseb.) Höck andV. effusa Griseb., from the central part of our country, and V. officinalis (as thereference plant). All these plants were rich in phenolic compounds, evidenced thepresence of ligands for the benzodiazepine binding site of the GABA A receptor andwere able to induce sedation as assessed by loss-of-righting reflex assays (500 mg/kg,i.p.). Mice treated with V. macrorhiza, V. carnosa and V. ferax extracts showedreduced exploratory behaviors while V. clarionifolia produced anxiolytic-like activities(500 mg/kg, i.p.) in the Hole board test. Oral administrations (300 mg/kg and 600mg/kg, p.o.) evidenced sedative effects for V. ferax and anxiolytic-like properties forV. macrorhiza , V. carnosa and V. clarionifolia extracts. Our native valerian speciesare active on the CNS, validating its folkloric use as anxiolytic/sedative and sleepenhancers.