Tanacetum parthenium enhances pentobarbital-induced sleeping behaviors

• Main Authors: Fatemeh Forouzanfar, Hamed Ghazavi, Mohammad Mahdi Vahedi, Kimia Tarah, Zahra Yavari, Azar Hosseini, Azita Aghaee, Hasan Rakhshandeh
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Mashhad University of Medical Sciences 2019-12-01
• Series: Avicenna Journal of Phytomedicine
• Subjects: pentobarbital; pc12; sleep; tanacetum parthenium; herbal medicine
• Online Access: http://ajp.mums.ac.ir/article_13391_6f8778a068560c1310f76f93424afa65.pdf

<strong>Objective: </strong>Sleep disorders are among the most common psychiatric and medical conditions. In the present study, the hypnotic effect of <em>Tanacetum parthenium </em>was studied in mice<strong>. </strong><br /> <strong>Material and Methods: </strong>The hydro-alcoholic extract (HAE) of <em>T. parthenium</em> and three fractions of it, namely water fraction (WF), ethyl acetate fraction (EAF), and <em>n</em>-hexane fraction (NHF), were intraperitoneally (ip) administrated to mice 30 min before injection of sodium pentobarbital (30 mg/kg, ip). Then, 30 min after administration of HAE, motor coordination (rota-rod test) was evaluated. Besides, LD₅₀ of HAE was determined and the cytotoxicity of HAE was evaluated in PC12 cells using the MTT assay.<br /> <strong>Results:</strong> HAE 50-200 mg/kg increased the sleeping time. EAF was the only fraction which could prolong the sleep duration and decrease sleep latency. The LD50 value was 4.8 g/kg. The extract induced no cytotoxic effects in PC12 cell line.<br /> <strong>Conclusion: </strong>The results suggested that <em>T. parthenium</em> potentiates pentobarbital hypnosis without causing toxic effects. Probably, its effects are mediated by the components present in EAF of this plant.