The Antidepressant-And Anxiolytic Effects Of FAE

The antidepressant- and anxiolytic effects of FAE were investigated by means of behavioral pharmacology for the first time.The other central-acting properties of FAE were also examined to see whether clear differences could be observed between it and diazepam(DZ).FAE(6、12 mg/kg)reduced the duration of immobility in the forced swimming test.FAE (6、12 mg/kg)produced a reduction in immobility in the tail suspension test.In the chronic mild stress model FAE(3,6,12 mg/kg)remarkably enhanced the coat state and the total grooming frequency of the stressed mice.In the elevated plus-maze test,FAE(3,6,12 mg/kg)increased the percentage of open arm entries and the FAE(6 mg/kg)increased the percentage of open arm time.FAE(6,12 mg/kg) prolonged the time spent in light area and increased the box/open field transitions without altering the total locomotor activity of the animals in the dark- light emergence test.FAE(3,6 mg/kg)caused increase in exploratory head-dipping in the hole-board test.FAE(6 mg/kg) significantly decreased rearing counts and the number of grooming.In general,the results seen above indicate that FAE,at specific doses,possesses a wide range of anxiolytic properties in different anxiety models.At doses eliciting the antidepressant- and anxiolytic effects,FAE produce neither influence on motor activity nor amobarbital sodium-induced sleeping.The results of the traction test and the inclined plane test showed that FAE did not impair muscle tone.These results suggest that FAE has no diazepam-like side-effects,such as over-sedation,muscle relaxation and barbiturate potentiation.In conclusion,these findings indicate that FAE exhibits an antidepressant and anxiolytic-like effects at given dosage.