Effects of chronic administration of Melissa officinalis L. extract on anxiety-like reactivity and on circadian and exploratory activities in mice

This study aimed to determine the effects of chronic (15 consecutive days of treatment) per os administration of Melissa officinalis L. extract (Cyracos ®, Naturex) on anxiety-like reactivity in mice. As measured by HPLC, Cyracos ® contains significant amounts of rosmarinic acid and the triterpenoid...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Phytomedicine (Stuttgart) Vol. 17; no. 6; pp. 397 - 403
Main Authors:	Ibarra, Alvin, Feuillere, Nicolas, Roller, Marc, Lesburgere, Edith, Beracochea, Daniel
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Germany Elsevier GmbH 01-05-2010 Urban & Fischer Verlag
Subjects:	4-Aminobutyrate Transaminase - antagonists & inhibitors Analysis Animal experimentation Animals Anti-Anxiety Agents - administration & dosage Anti-Anxiety Agents - pharmacology Antianxiety agents Anxiety Anxiety - drug therapy Behavior, Animal - drug effects Cinnamates Circadian Rhythm Depsides Dose-Response Relationship, Drug Drug Administration Schedule Exploratory activity Exploratory Behavior - drug effects GABA GABA Agonists - administration & dosage GABA Agonists - pharmacology Health aspects Lemon balm Maze Learning - drug effects Melissa - chemistry Melissa officinalis L Mice Mice, Inbred C57BL Oleanolic Acid Phytotherapy Plant Components, Aerial Plant Extracts - administration & dosage Plant Extracts - pharmacology Rosmarinic Acid Triterpenes Ursolic Acid France GABA Melissa officinalis L Mice Anxiety Exploratory activity
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Summary:	This study aimed to determine the effects of chronic (15 consecutive days of treatment) per os administration of Melissa officinalis L. extract (Cyracos ®, Naturex) on anxiety-like reactivity in mice. As measured by HPLC, Cyracos ® contains significant amounts of rosmarinic acid and the triterpenoids oleanolic acid and ursolic acid, which inhibit gamma-aminobutyric acid transaminase (GABA-T) activity and increase GABA levels in the brain ( Awad et al., 2007; Awad et al., 2009). Thus, we evaluated Cyracos ® use in independent groups of C57BL/6 mice with regard to anxiety-like reactivity in an elevated plus maze and an open field task. We found that Cyracos ® significantly reduced anxiety-like reactivity in the elevated plus maze dose-dependently, but no significant effect was observed in the open field task. Parallel experiments in independent groups of mice showed that the Cyracos ® dose at which it exerted anxiolytic-like effects in the elevated plus maze did not alter exploratory or circadian activities. Therefore, our results demonstrate that Cyracos ® has anxiolytic-like effects under moderate stress conditions and does not alter activity levels.
ISSN:	0944-7113 1618-095X
DOI:	10.1016/j.phymed.2010.01.012