Neuro beneficial effects of Pimpinella anisum against lead exposure

Abstract

Background:The essential oil of Pimpinella anisum has been widely used in traditional medicine to treat a variety of diseases, including some neurological disorders. Aims: This study was aimed to test, in vivo, the possible anxiolytic and antidepressant effects, of the essential oil of Pimpinella anisum against chronic lead acetate (0.2%) intoxication during the gestation and lactation period, in Wistar rat pups. Settings and Design: Wistar rat pups were exposed to lead via their dams' drinking water from postnatal day (PND) 1 to (PND) 21. After weaning, the lead-exposed rats received injections of essential oil of Pimpinella anisum (0.5 ml/kg) for 15 days. The level of anxiety, depression and locomotor activity were studied. Materials and Methods: The behaviours evaluated were: Locomotor activity (open-field test), anxiety (dark and light compartment and elevated plus maze tests), and depression (forced swimming test). Statistical Analysis: The data were analysed by two-way analyses of variance (ANOVAs). When a significant difference was found, the Student-Newman-Keuls post-hoc test was conducted. For all analyses, the difference was considered to be significant at P ≤ 0.05. Results: The results of the present study demonstrate that developmental lead exposure induces, on the one hand, impairments of body (P < 0.001) and brain weight (P < 0.05), respectively, and on the other hand, increases the level of anxiety (P < 0.001), depression (P < 0.001) and locomotor hyperactivity (P < 0.001), compared to control rats. Administration of the essential oil of Pimpinella anisum entrains reduction in the level of anxiety (P < 0.001), depression (P < 0.001) and correct locomotor hyperactivity (P < 0.001) in rats exposed to lead beforehand. Conclusion: In conclusion, our results demonstrate that developmental lead exposure induces significant perturbation of emotional reactivity that can be improved by treatment with the essential oil of Pimpinella anisum. Further evaluation of the use of anise oil in the treatment of neurological disorders is suggested.

Effect of Pimpinella anisum L (Aniseed) Aqueous Extract against Lead (Pb) Neurotoxicity: Neurobehavioral Study

“…This effect is due mainly to the direct action of lead on serotoninergic and glutamatergic transmission in brain and its receptors respectively: 5HT1A and NMDA which are involved in the physiopathology of depression [27], [28].Anxiety caused by lead acetate was also confirmed through Dark and light test. Hence, our results were in agreement with the finding of [8].However, this effect can be explained by the interaction of lead with serotoninergic and dopaminergic neurons in Hippocampus. This system seems to be involved in the regulation of CRF (Corticotropin Releasing Factor) which play a key role in anxiety behavior.…”

“…The current finding showed that exposure to lead during gestation and lactation affected the locomotor activity in the Open Filed test. Further, lead caused a significant hyperactivity, which was in accordance with lot of studies [8], [22]. Many suggestions have been proposed to explain this effect, some of this relied the change in the open field behavior to the alteration of dopaminergic, serotonergic and cholinergic systems [14].…”

“…Our results showed that lead exposure during gestation and lactation caused an increase in the body weight of the pups but many others studies have demonstrated that lead caused a decrease in the body weights [8], [16].In contrary to this data and in accordance with our finding, two studies have previously reported higher body weight in offspring developmentally exposed to low level of lead [17], [18]. Refereeing to [18] and its team have proposed a possible compensatory response to high toxic insult , refereeing to [17] suggested a number of mechanisms , such as lead (Pb) induced polymorphisms in Vitamin D receptors , interference with endocrine signaling pathways and altered hypothalamic -pituitary -adrenal axis(HPA) to explain high weight gain .…”

Evaluating the Antidepressant Effect of Verbena officinalis L. (Vervain) Aqueous Extract in Adult Rats

“…After conducting behavioral tests, the study rats were sacrificed in the morning; blood was collected from portal vein in tubes, then used to determine the blood glucose level by a glucometer (Kahloula et al, 2013).…”

Prophylactic effect of the aqueous extract of Pimpinella anisum on the behavior of Wistar rats exposed to mercury

“…Stillness therefore reflects the state of resignation that can be associated with "despair". The test duration is 6 min (Kahloula et al, 2013;Elizalde et al, 2008).…”