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. 2014 Jul 28:14:267.
doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-14-267.

The anxiolytic effects of a Valerian extract is based on valerenic acid

Axel Becker, Falko Felgentreff, Helmut Schröder, Beat Meier, Axel Brattström  1
Affiliations

The anxiolytic effects of a Valerian extract is based on valerenic acid

Axel Becker et al. BMC Complement Altern Med. .

Abstract

Background: Valerian is commonly used for the treatment of insomnia and anxiety. Valerian extracts allosterically modulate GABA-A receptors and induced an anxiolytic activity. This activity is closely related to valerenic acid. In the present experiments it was investigated whether acetoxy valerenic acid may interfere with the anxiolytic action of valerenic acid.

Methods: Situational anxiety was measured using male CD-1 mice in the elevated plus maze test after oral administration of the test substances. In addition the body core temperature was measured. For the 3H-GABA binding assay dissected tissue from frontal cortex of male RjHan:WI rats were used. Statistical evaluation was performed by means of the non-parametric Kruskal-Wallies H-test, followed by the two-tailed Mann-Whitney U-test.

Results: Adding of acetoxy valerenic acid abolished the anxiolytic action of valerenic acid. There was no effect on body core temperature. Moreover, the valerian extract did not show any affinity to benzodiazepine binding sites.

Conclusion: The determining compound for the observed anxiolytic effect of the valerian extract is its content of valerenic acid.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
% Time spent in the open arm, total arm changes, number of entries in open arms (median ± deviation of the median) and body core temperature (mean ± sem) for the different 0.5 mg/kg valerian extract – acetoxy valerianic combinations (AVA). The amount of added AVA to VE is indicated (mg AVA), n equals the number of animals used. *p < 0.05 in comparison to saline.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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Pre-publication history
    1. The pre-publication history for this paper can be accessed here: http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6882/14/267/prepub

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