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Pharmacologia

Year: 2014 | Volume: 5 | Issue: 9 | Page No.: 326-338
DOI: 10.17311/pharmacologia.2014.326.338
Desensitization of Mild Stress Triggered Responses in Mice by a Brassica juncea Leaf Extract and some Ubiquitous Secondary Plant Metabolites
Arky Jane Langstieh, Preeti Verma, Ajit Kumar Thakur, Shyam Sunder Chatterjee and Vikas Kumar

Abstract: Background: Ayurvedic practitioners have known diverse health benefits of Brassica juncea since centuries. Its edible green leaves are enriched in vitamins and other health promoting phytochemicals with therapeutically interesting pharmacological properties. Available information on bioactivity profiles of hydro-alcoholic extracts of Brassica juncea leaves and numerous such phytochemicals, also encountered in other edible plants, suggest that they could have diverse stress response desensitising properties. Experiments designed to experimentally verify such possibilities are reported. Method: Effects of graded oral doses of a standardized Brassica juncea leaf extract and salicylic, para-hydroxybenzoic, sinapic and nicotinic acids administered for 11 consecutive days on daily handling and intermittent foot-shock stress triggered changes on body weights, core temperatures, stress induced transient hyperthermic responses, tail suspension test and pentobarbitone hypnosis in male mice were quantified. For comparison sake, diazepam or imipramine or metformin were used as reference drugs in different experiments. Results: Each test agent and reference drug tested had their own therapeutically interesting bioactivity profile in the bioassay and their observed effects became apparent or more pronounced after their repeated daily doses. These observations add further experimental evidences in support of the conviction that anti-stress or adaptogenic activities of drugs and phytochemicals in dictating their therapeutically interesting bioactivity profiles and that some ubiquitously present in phytochemical in almost all medicinally used herbal extracts can also contribute to their therapeutic efficacy. Conclusion: The bioassay system could be used for identifying bioactive constituents of almost all traditionally known adaptogenic and other herbs.

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How to cite this article
Arky Jane Langstieh, Preeti Verma, Ajit Kumar Thakur, Shyam Sunder Chatterjee and Vikas Kumar, 2014. Desensitization of Mild Stress Triggered Responses in Mice by a Brassica juncea Leaf Extract and some Ubiquitous Secondary Plant Metabolites. Pharmacologia, 5: 326-338.

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