Evaluation of Anti-depressant, Anti-anxiety and Muscle Relaxant Activity of Hydroalcoholic Extract of Aerva javanica Roots

Aims: To evaluate anti-depressant, anti-anxiety and muscle relaxant activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Aerva javanica roots in various experimental animal models. Study Design: Animal study. Place and Duration of Study: The study was conducted in Bilwal Medchem and Research Laboratory, Jaipur from July 2021-August 2021. Methodology: The root powder of Aerva javanica was extracted with hydroalcoholic solvent (70% ethanol). The hydroalcoholic extract at three doses 100 mg/kg, 200 mg/kg, and 400 mg/kg was checked for anti-depressant and skeletal muscle relaxant activity in the experimental animal models. To determine the anti-depressant activity tail suspension test, locomotor activity, open field test, and MAO inhibitor assay were done; to determine the anti-anxiety activity hole board test was used; and to determine the skeletal muscle relaxant activity rotarod test, grip strength test, and chimney test were done. Results: In the tail suspension test, the extract at 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg significantly reduced the duration of immobility compared to normal control (p<0.0001). The extract at dose 400 mg/kg significantly reduced MAO-A and MAO-B activity compared to the normal control group (p<0.01 and p<0.05, respectively). The extract at 200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg were able to decrease locomotor activity in actophotomoter and increased time spent in centre square in open field test revealing the sedative effect of the extract. In hole board test, the extract at dose 400 mg/kg and 200 mg/kg significantly increased number of head dip count (p<0.0001 and p<0.001) respectively. In the rotarod test, the extract at dose 200 and 400 mg/kg decreased the time spent on the rotating rod (p<0.0001), compared to normal control. Similarly, in the grip strength test the extract at dose 200 and 400 mg/kg decreased the time spend on suspended wire revealing the skeletal muscle relaxant property of the test extract. Conclusion: Based on the result, it can be concluded that the extract exert anti-depressant, anti-anxiety and skeletal muscle relaxant like activity in the experimental rat which was hypothesized to be attributed to the flavonoids present in the hydroalcoholic root extract of Aerva javanica.

The Effect of Hippotherapy on Balance and Coordination in Mentally Disabled Children

Objective: The development of psychomotor skills in individuals with mental disabilities progresses more slowly than their healthy peers. Therefore, it is very important for individuals with mental disabilities to do activities for the development of psychomotor skills. This study aims to examine the effects of hippotherapy training on balance and coordination skills in children with moderate and severe mental disabilities. Materials and Methods: 40 students with moderate and severe mental disabilities, between the ages of 14-20, who continue their education in Erzurum Special Education Practice School, 3rd Grade, participated in the study. The participants were divided into two groups of 20 people as the hippotherapy group (HG) and the control group (CG). Before starting the study, the height and age of all students were recorded, and their body weights were measured with digital scales. Flamingo balance test to measure balance skills, balance board test, touch test to measure coordination skills, T agility test, and Illinois agility test and sit-and-reach test for flexibility skills were applied as a pre-test to the individuals. After the pre-tests were completed, 20 subjects in the hippotherapy group participated in the 20-minute hippotherapy training twice a week for 8 weeks at Atatürk University Hippotherapy and Olympic Equestrian Facilities. The control group did not participate in any application. The final tests of the subjects were carried out in the week after the hippotherapy training was completed. Results: After eight weeks of hippotherapy, there was no significant change in the body composition of the subjects in moderate and severe levels in the hippotherapy group, yet positive significant changes were determined in balance, coordination, and flexibility skills. No significant changes occurred in the subjects in the control group. Conclusion: As a result of the study, it was determined that hippotherapy positively affected balance, coordination, and flexibility skills in individuals with moderate and severe mental disabilities. Keywords: Mental disability, hippotherapy, balance, coordination, flexibility

Effects of New Galantamine Derivatives in a Scopolamine Model of Dementia in Mice

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by memory loss and cognitive functions decline, is a leading cause for dementia and currently ranked as the sixth foremost cause of death. As of present, treatment of AD is symptomatic without convincing therapeutic benefits and new, effective, therapeutic agents are pursued. Due to massive loss of cholinergic neurons and decreased acetylcholine levels, cholinesterase inhibitors like galantamine, remain the backbone of pharmacological treatment of the disease. In the present study, using behavioral and biochemical methods, four newly synthesized galantamine derivatives, Gal 34, Gal 43, Gal 44, and Gal 46, were evaluated for a beneficial effect in a scopolamine model of dementia in mice. They were designed to have all the advantages of galantamine and additionally to inhibit β-secretase and exert favorable effects on plasma lipids. Behavioral tests included step-through inhibitory avoidance, T-maze, and the hole-board test, whereas biochemical evaluations involved assessment of acetylcholinesterase activity, brain monoamines levels, lipid peroxidation, catalase, glutathione peroxidase, and superoxide dismutase activities along with measurement of total glutathione. Results show that Gal 43, Gal 44, and, in particular, Gal 46 are especially effective in improving both short- and long-term memory and in the case of Gal 46 having a significant effect on exploratory activity as well. Although Gal 34 did not show behavioral effects as convincing as those of the other three galantamine derivatives, it demonstrated persuasive antioxidant and restorative capacities, making all four galantamine derivatives promising AD treatment agents and prompting further research, especially that in many of our studies they performed better than galantamine.

IMPACT OF CHRONIC NOISE ON HIPPOCAMPAL MORPHOLOGY AND ITS FUNCTIONS IN WISTAR ALBINO RATS

Objective: The study aims to investigate the effect of chronic noise stress on hippocampal morphology and its functions in male Wistar albino rats. Methods: Adult albino rats were randomly divided into two groups. Each group contained six animals. Rats exposed to chronic noise stress (100 dB/4 h–30 days) were compared with control animal and assessed for behavior using hole-board test, marble burying test, and morphology of hippocampus by histology. Results: The rats exposed to chronic noise stress showed significance (P < 0.05) of behavioral alterations such as increased fear and anxiety, obsessive-compulsive behavior, enlarged lateral ventricle, and reduced hippocampal volume. Conclusion: The results reported that chronic noise stress affects neurobehavioral due to reduced hippocampal volume.

Anti-depressant, anxiolytic and muscle relaxant activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Cissampelos pareira linn. Leaves

Background: The ethnopharmacological relevance suggests that the ethnic minorities of India use leaves of Cissampelos pareira L as a traditional medicine for curing various psychopharmacological disorders. Objective: To evaluate anti-depressant, anxiolytic, and muscle relaxant activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Cissampelos pareira. Results: No moribund status or mortality was observed in experimental mice up to 2000 mg/kg dose of Cissampelos pareira hydroalcoholic extract (CPHE). In the open field and actophotometer tests, CPHE 200 and 400 mg/kg treated mice with significantly abridged ambulation, a number of central squares crossed, total locomotion, and depicted less coordinated movements. While, in despair swim and tail suspension tests, CPHE 400 mg/kg treated mice significantly decreased duration of immobility and increased number of climbing, confirming its anti-depressant effect. In an elevated plus-maze test, CPHE 200 and 400 mg/kg increased the open arm exploration; in hole board test, CPHE 400 mg/kg treated rats augmented the number of head dips, depicting its anxiolytic effect. In rotarod, grip strength, and inclined plane test, CPHE 400 mg/kg treated mice decreased in fall off time on a rotating rod, suspended wire, or inclined plane. Furthermore, in the chimney test, treatment with CPHE 400 depicted less coordinated movements in mice, and mice of this group took more time to leave the cylinder, depicting its skeletal muscle relaxant effect. Conclusion: Based on the result, it can be concluded that CPHE 400 mg/kg exhibits strong anti-depressant, anxiolytic, and muscle relaxant effects, justifying its traditional uses.

SEGUIN FORM BOARD TEST: A PROPOSAL FOR APPROPRIATE NORMS

Seguin Form Board Test (SFB) is one of the popular tests of intelligence for children in the Indian subcontinent. It is a much sought-after test due to its simplicity, ease of administration and takes less than 10 minutes to arrive at an IQ score. Further, it elicits interest in children, is easy to score and can be administered to even shy, speech impaired, autistic spectrum and/or attention decit and hyperactive children. There are standard norms and to keep up with the Flynn effect, researchers are conducting studies to update normative data to keep up with the times. However, all the available norms in India with respect to SFB, follow incorrect practices, such as, using SFB for children older than 10 years; inappropriate processes, such as, using only the mean value and ignoring standard deviation; and erroneous way of converting interval scale score to ordinal scale score to arrive at the ratio IQ method. These errors have been existing for decades, despite the possibility of having better and appropriate norms that matches the deviation IQ. This article attempts to highlight the pitfalls of adopting the existing norms with appropriate examples and gures. Further, the article proposes a better and more appropriate norms to arrive at an IQ.

Can the Hole–Board Test Predict a Rat’s Exploratory Behavior in a Free-Exploration Test?

This study focuses on the rat activity in a hole–board setting that we considered a type of exploratory behavior. The general hypothesis is based on the claim that a motivational mechanism is central to both the response to novelty in a highly familiarized environment and the activity in the hole–board apparatus. Our sample consisted of 80 experimentally naive Lister Hooded rats. All rats were tested in the hole–board apparatus. Twenty individuals with the highest hole-board scores and twenty subjects with the lowest hole–board scores subsequently underwent an established free-exploration test. In our study, the scores obtained in the hole–board test had little predictive value for the rats’ activity in the free-exploration test. Based on our previous experience in studying exploratory behavior in the free-exploration test and the data presented in this paper, we suggest that the hole–board test is not an appropriate tool for measuring exploratory behavior in laboratory rodents.