Comparison of anxiolytic effects of root extract of winter cherry (Withania somnifera) with the effects of diazepam in male wistar rats

Introduction: Anxiety is a generalized and extremely unpleasant feeling of vague dread of unknown origin which is accompanied by physical feelings like exhaustion, chest tightness, palpitations, sweating, headache, sudden desire to urinate, restlessness, and a desire to move. Anxiety is one of the most common psychiatric disorders which lead to problems in many aspects of individual, family, and social life. According to some studies, one out of every four people experiences a type of an anxiety disorder in lifetime. Medicinal plants play an important role in treating the disease and they cause milder symptoms in comparison with chemical drugs. Hence in this research, the anxiolytic effect of the extract of winter cherry (Withania somnifera) was compared with the effect of diazepam which is a chemical drug. Materials and methods: After extraction of essence from the roots of the plant, the collected root extract was injected intraperitoneally with doses of 150, 100, 75, 50, and 25،mg/kg. Diazepam was injected with a dose of 1 mg/kg and the same volume of saline was also injected 30 min before assessing anxiolytic effects. Plus-maze apparatus was used to study animal behavior. Results: The largest and the smallest amount of OAT were attributed to doses of150 mg/kg and 25 mg/kg, respectively. The best dose of root extract was 75 mg / kg,becausehigher amounts of the root extract did not result in a significant difference. Conclusion: Winter cherry root extract reduces anxiety, and a dose of 75 mg/kg generated an effect similar to that of diazepam. However, it reduced locomotor activity.