Anti-anxiety and Hypnotic Effects of Lawsonia inermis Hydroalcoholic Extract

Abstract

Background: Sleep is a vital biological feature, and insomnia causes maladaptive physical and psychological functions. The main flaws of current insomnia medications are significant side effects. A suitable substitute can be herbal products. We aimed to evaluate the anti-anxiety, sleep-inducing, and -prolonging effects of Lawsonia inermis extract and fractions in mice. Methods: Male albino mice were pretreated intraperitoneally (i.p.) with either three doses (40, 80, and 160 mg/kg) of L. inermis extract or n-butanol fraction (NBF), ethyl acetate fraction (EAF), and water fraction (WF), 30 minutes before i.p. injection of 30 mg/kg pentobarbital. Sleep latency and duration of sleep were recorded. For anxiolytic activity, elevated plus-maze (EPM) tests were used. Moreover, the toxicity of the extract was determined in both in vivo and in vitro experiments. Results: L. inermis extract (160 mg/kg) significantly reduced sleep latency and increased sleep duration. EAF at 160 mg/kg decreased sleep latency and increased sleep duration. Flumazenil reversed the hypnotic effect of L. inermis extract (160 mg/kg). L. inermis extract (80, 160 mg/kg) increased the time spent and the number of entries in the open arms of EPM. The tested extracts and fractions administration found no adverse effects on PC12 cell viability. The LD50 was 2.4 g/kg. Conclusion: L. inermis extracts exhibit anxiolytic and hypnotic effects, probably modulating the GABAergic system.