COMPARING THE EFFECT OF HAWTHORN'S EXTRACT AND CHLORDIAZEPOXIDE ON REDUCING ANXIETY IN LABORATORY MICE

Anxiety is a natural feeling which is experienced in threatening situations and can affect the physiology of the nervous system. The aim of this study was to compare the effect of hawthorn and chlordiazepoxide on reducing anxiety in mice. Sixty female mice in the weight range of 25 to 30g were divided into six groups of control, anxiety, chlordiazepoxide and 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg doses of hawthorn extract. After receiving the last dose, Anxiety was induced by the dark box and then was evaluated using plus evaluated maze. Animals were placed in a box with black walls for five minutes. After that, samples were transferred to plus elevated maze and open arms entries and time were recorded as anxiety indices. Hawthorn extract increased open arm time significantly in 100 and 200 mg/kg doses in proportion to control and drug. Also, these doses increased movement activity significantly. According to results, hawthorn extract reduced the anxiety dose dependently, so that 50 mg/kg dose could not show better performance than chlordiazepoxide whereas 100 and 200 mg/kg doses can be proposed as a good replacement for this drug to reduce anxiety reflexes. Keywords: hawthorn, anxiety, chlordiazepoxide, mic