Department of Education and Psychology, The Open University of Israel, 108 Ravutski St., P.O.BOX 808, Raanana, 43107, Israel.
Life Sci. 2012 Jun 27;90(25-26):995-1000. doi: 10.1016/j.lfs.2012.05.014. Epub 2012 Jun 5.
Anxiety and stress disorders are currently among the ten most important public health concerns, and in recent years, have reached epidemic proportions. The current success rate of treatments for anxiety disorders is not high, reaching 50% at most. These treatments are also associated with a wide variety of side effects. The aim of the present study was to investigate the anxiolytic properties of a novel herbal treatment produced in our laboratory compared to a conventional treatment for anxiety disorders, namely SSRIs.
Anxiety-like behavior was evaluated in adult mice exposed to stress during childhood following 1, 2 and 3 weeks of treatment with the novel herbal treatment or escitalopram, using the novel open field and the elevated plus maze paradigms. The behavioral evaluation in these mice was followed by a biochemical assessment of their brain hippocampal BDNF levels and blood corticosterone levels.
The study showed that (1) the novel herbal treatment reduced anxiety-like behaviors in both behavioral tests. Interestingly, this reduction was observed only following a 3-week treatment; (2) following the novel treatment, corticosterone levels in the plasma of treated mice were reduced and this reduction was similar to the one observed following escitalopram treatment; and (3) BDNF levels in the hippocampus of mice treated both with the novel herbal treatment and escitalopram were increased.
These behavioral and biological findings indicate that our novel herbal compound has the potential of being highly efficacious in treating anxiety disorders.
焦虑和应激障碍目前是十大最重要的公共卫生关注点之一，近年来已达到流行程度。焦虑障碍治疗的当前成功率并不高，最多达到 50%。这些治疗方法也与各种副作用有关。本研究的目的是研究我们实验室开发的一种新型草药治疗焦虑症的效果，与传统的焦虑症治疗方法（SSRIs）相比。
在童年时期经历压力的成年小鼠中，通过使用新的开阔场和高架十字迷宫范式，评估在接受新型草药治疗或依西酞普兰治疗后的 1、2 和 3 周内，焦虑样行为。在这些小鼠的行为评估之后，对其大脑海马体 BDNF 水平和血液皮质酮水平进行生化评估。
该研究表明，（1）新型草药治疗可减少两种行为测试中的焦虑样行为。有趣的是，仅在 3 周治疗后观察到这种减少；（2）新型治疗后，治疗小鼠的血浆皮质酮水平降低，这种降低与依西酞普兰治疗后的降低相似；（3）接受新型草药治疗和依西酞普兰治疗的小鼠海马体中的 BDNF 水平增加。
这些行为和生物学发现表明，我们的新型草药化合物在治疗焦虑症方面具有很高的疗效潜力。
