Abstract
Background: This work evaluated the antipsychotic and anticonvulsant effects of crude aqueous leaf extract of Vitex doniana in mice. This was to validate the use of V. doniana in the treatment of mental disorders and epilepsy in folkloric medicine.
Methods: Antipsychotic effect of V. doniana was evaluated using the animal models of psychosis: swimming-induced grooming, ketamine-induced hyperlocomotion and apomorphine-induced climbing tests. Anticonvulsant effect was evaluated using animal models of convulsion: maximal electroshock (MES), pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) and strychnine. Five groups of white albino mice (n = 6) were randomly selected. Group 1 was the control (normal saline, 10 ml/kg, i.p.), group 2, 3 and 4 were treated with aqueous leaf extract of V. doniana at 250, 500 and 1000 mg/kg p.o. for antipsychotic experiments and 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg, i.p. for the anticonvulsant experiments, while group 5 was the positive control (appropriate standard drugs).
Results: The doses of 500 and 1000 mg/kg of V. doniana showed significant antipsychotic, while at all the doses tested, it showed varying degrees of anticonvulsant activity.
Conclusions: It can be concluded, that V. doniana possesses significant antipsychotic and antiepileptic effects, thus providing pharmacological justification for some of it ethnomedicinal uses.
Keywords: Swimming-induced grooming; ketamine-induced hyperlocomotion; apomorphine-induced climbing; maximum electroshock; pentylenetetrazole; strychnine.
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