Gupta Girdhari Lal, Rana Avtar Chand
Department of Pharmacology, B. N. College of Pharmacy, Udaipur 313 002, India.
Indian J Exp Biol. 2008 Jun;46(6):470-5.
Withania somnifera (WS) or its psychotropic preparation is known to play a critical role in morphine, alcohol and benzodiazepines addiction. This study investigates the role of WS in acute ethanol and withdrawal from chronic ethanol consumption using elevated plus maze paradigm in rats. Acute administration of ethanol (1.5-2 g/kg, ip) triggered anxiolytic effect and withdrawal from prolonged ethanol (9% v/v ethanol, 15 days) consumption elicited enhanced behavioral despair (anxiety). Acute administration of WS (50 mg/kg, oral) potentiated the anxiolytic action of subeffective dose of ethanol (0.5 or 1 g/kg, ip). Moreover, the ethanol withdrawal anxiety was markedly antagonized in dose dependent manner by WS at 200 and 500 mg/kg or higher dose of ethanol (2.5 g/kg). However, co-administration of subeffective doses of WS (50 mg/kg, oral) and ethanol also attenuated withdrawal-induced anxiety due to chronic ethanol (9% v/v ethanol, 15 days) consumption. The results suggest the protective effect of WS in the management of ethanol withdrawal reactions.
印度人参（WS）或其精神活性制剂在吗啡、酒精和苯二氮卓类成瘾中起着关键作用。本研究使用高架十字迷宫范式，研究了WS在大鼠急性乙醇摄入及慢性乙醇摄入戒断过程中的作用。急性给予乙醇（1.5 - 2 g/kg，腹腔注射）引发抗焦虑作用，而长期摄入乙醇（9% v/v乙醇，15天）后戒断则引发行为绝望（焦虑）增强。急性给予WS（50 mg/kg，口服）增强了亚有效剂量乙醇（0.5或1 g/kg，腹腔注射）的抗焦虑作用。此外，WS以剂量依赖方式显著拮抗了200和500 mg/kg或更高剂量乙醇（2.5 g/kg）引起的乙醇戒断焦虑。然而，亚有效剂量的WS（50 mg/kg，口服）与乙醇共同给药也减轻了因长期摄入乙醇（9% v/v乙醇，15天）导致的戒断诱导焦虑。结果表明WS在管理乙醇戒断反应方面具有保护作用。
