Behavioral effects of acute and chronic oral administration of barakol in rats

Barakol, an active constituent extracted from Cassia siamea, has been shown to have anxiolytic effects similar to diazepam when treated intraperitoneally.

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.

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.

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.

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.