Abstract
Background: Psychosis is a chronic neurological disorder and it remains a major medical and social problem in most African countries. Individuals with psychotic illness in this region tend to seek help from traditional medical practitioners, who prescribe herbal remedies as alternative forms of treatment for the disease. Jobelyn® (JB) is a commercial polyherbal formulation that has been acclaimed to show beneficial effects in neurological disorders. However, its usefulness in psychosis has not been scientifically validated. Thus, this study was undertaken to evaluate its effects on animal models predictive of human psychosis.
Methods: Antipsychotic activity of JB was assessed based on the inhibition of stereotyped behavior induced by amphetamine or apomorphine in mice. Amphetamine-induced hyperactivity and lethality in aggregated mice were additional tests employed to further evaluate the antipsychotic property of JB. The effect of JB on catalepsy was also assessed, using the inclined plane paradigm.
Results: JB (5–50 mg/kg, p.o.) significantly (p<0.05) inhibited stereotypy induced by amphetamine (10.0 mg/kg, i.p.) or apomorphine (1 mg/kg, i.p.), which suggests antipsychotic activity. Furthermore, JB (5–50 mg/kg, p.o.) reduced lethality in aggregated mice and inhibited hyperactivity induced by amphetamine, respectively. However, JB (5–50 mg/kg, p.o.) did not cause cataleptic behavior, as it failed to alter the duration of stay of the animals on the inclined plane.
Conclusions: Taken together, these findings suggest that JB exhibits antipsychotic-like activity, devoid of the adverse effect of cataleptic behavior, and may offer some beneficial effects in the symptomatic relief of psychotic ailments.
References
1. Davis KL, Kahn RS, Grant KO, Davidson M. Dopamine in schizophrenia: a new review and conceptualization. Am J Psychiatry 1991;148:1474–86.10.1176/ajp.148.11.1474Search in Google Scholar
2. Ewhrudjakpor C. Conceptualizing Africans’ perception of disease as distinct from Euro-America practice. J Soc Policy Issues 2007;4:8–11.Search in Google Scholar
3. Adebowale TO, Ogunlesi AO. Beliefs and knowledge about aetiology of mental illness among Nigerian psychiatric patients and their relatives. Afr J Med Med Sci 1999;28:35–41.Search in Google Scholar
4. Kabir M, Iliyasu Z, Abubakar IS, Aliyu MH. Perception and beliefs about mental illness among adults in Karfi village, northern Nigeria. BMC Int Health Hum Rights 2004;4:3–7.10.1186/1472-698X-4-3Search in Google Scholar
5. Bleuler M, Stoll WA. Clinical use of reserpine in psychiatry: comparison with chlorpromazine. Ann NY Acad Sci 1955; 61:167–73.10.1111/j.1749-6632.1955.tb42463.xSearch in Google Scholar
6. Sonibare MA, Soladoye MO, Subuloye TA. Ethnobotanical survey of anti-psychotic plants in Lagos and Ogun states of Nigeria. Eur J Sci Res 2008;19:634–44.Search in Google Scholar
7. Sonibare MA, Umukoro S, Shonibare ET. Antipsychotic property of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Lonchocarpus cyanescens (Schumach and Thonn.) Benth. (Fabaceae) in rodents. J Nat Med 2012;66:127–32.10.1007/s11418-011-0562-6Search in Google Scholar
8. Okochi VI, Okpuzor J, Okubena MO, Awoyemi AK. The influence of African herbal formula on the haematological parameters of trypanosome infected rats. Afr J Biotechnol 2003;2:312–6.10.5897/AJB2003.000-1064Search in Google Scholar
9. Oshikoya KA, Senbanjo IO, Njokanma OF, Soipe A. Use of complementary and alternative medicines for children with chronic health conditions in Lagos, Nigeria. BMC Complement Altern Med 2008;8:66.10.1186/1472-6882-8-66Search in Google Scholar
10. Erah PO, Asonye CC, Okhamafe AO. Response of Trypanosoma brucei brucei-induced anaemia to a commercial herbal preparation. Afr J Biotechnol 2003;2:307–11.10.5897/AJB2003.000-1063Search in Google Scholar
11. Awika JM, Rooney LW. Sorghum phytochemicals and their potential impact on human health. Phytochemistry 2004;65:1199–221.10.1016/j.phytochem.2004.04.001Search in Google Scholar
12. Heo HJ, Kim M, Lee J, Choi S, Cho H, Hong B, et al. Naringenin from Citrus junos has an inhibitory effect on acetylcholinesterase and a mitigating effect on amnesia. Dement Geratr Cogn Disord 2004;17:151–7.10.1159/000076349Search in Google Scholar
13. American Physiological Society. Guiding principles for research involving animals and human beings. Comp Physiol 2002;283:R281–3.10.1152/ajpregu.00279.2002Search in Google Scholar
14. Bourin M, Poisson L, Larousse C. Piracetam interaction with neuroleptics in psychopharmacological tests. Neuropsychobiology 1986;19:93–6.10.1159/000118305Search in Google Scholar
15. Brown RE, Corey SC, Moore AK. Differences in measures of exploration and fear in MHC-congenic C578L/61 and B6-H-2K mice. Behav Genet 1999;26:263–71.10.1023/A:1021694307672Search in Google Scholar
16. Costall B, Naylor RJ. On catalepsy and catatonia and the predictability of the cataleptic test for neuroleptics activity. Psychopharmacology (Berlin) 1974;34:233–41.10.1007/BF00421964Search in Google Scholar
17. Janssen PA, Niemegeers CJ, Smellekens KH. Is it possible to predict the clinical effects of neuroleptic drugs (major tranquilizers) from animal data? Drug Res 1965;15:56–69.Search in Google Scholar
18. Porsolt RD, Moser PG, Castagné V. Behavioral indices in antipsychotic drug discovery. J Pharmacol Exp Therap 2010;333:632–8.10.1124/jpet.110.166710Search in Google Scholar
19. Swerdlow NR, Braff DL, Taaid N, Geyer MA. Assessing the validity of an animal model of deficient sensorimotor gating in schizophrenic patients. Arch Gen Psychiatry 1994;51:139–54.10.1001/archpsyc.1994.03950020063007Search in Google Scholar
20. Duterte-Boucher D, Duhamel F, Costentin J. Dopaminergic transmission and (+)amphetamine-induced lethality in aggregated mice. Fundam Clin Pharmacol 1992;6:21–7.10.1111/j.1472-8206.1992.tb00090.xSearch in Google Scholar
21. Burn JH, Hobbs R. A test for tranquillizing drugs. Arch Int Pharmacodyn 1958;113:290–5.Search in Google Scholar
22. Lasagna L, McCann WP. Effect of tranquilizing drugs on amphetamine toxicity in aggregated mice. Science 1957;125:1241–2.10.1126/science.125.3260.1241Search in Google Scholar
23. Hogn R, Lasagna L. Effects of aggregation and temperature on amphetamine toxicity in mice. Psychopharmacologia 1960;1:210–20.10.1007/BF00402742Search in Google Scholar
24. Askew BM. Hyperpyrexia as a contributory factor in the toxicity of amphetamine to aggregated mice. Br J Pharmacol 1962;19:245–57.10.1111/j.1476-5381.1962.tb01186.xSearch in Google Scholar
25. Greenblat TE, Osterberg AC. Correlations of activating and lethal effects of excitatory drugs in grouped and isolated mice. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 1961;131:115–9.Search in Google Scholar
26. Mullen PE. Schizophrenia and violence: from correlations to preventive strategies. Adv Psychiatric Treat 2006;12: 239–48.10.1192/apt.12.4.239Search in Google Scholar
27. Sams-Dodd F. A test of the predictive validity of animal models of schizophrenia based on phencyclidine and D-amphetamine. Neuropsychopharmacology 1998;18:293–304.10.1016/S0893-133X(97)00161-9Search in Google Scholar
28. Leite JV, Guimarães FS, Moreira FA. Aripiprazole, an atypical antipsychotic, prevents the motor hyperactivity induced by psychotomimetics and psychostimulants in mice. Eur J Pharmacol 2008;578:222–7.10.1016/j.ejphar.2007.09.016Search in Google Scholar
29. O’Neill MF, Shaw G. Comparison of dopamine receptor antagonists on hyperlocomotion induced by cocaine, amphetamine, MK-801 and the dopamine D1 agonist C-APB in mice. Psychopharmacology (Berlin) 1999;145:237–50.10.1007/s002130051055Search in Google Scholar
30. Castagné V, Moser PC, Porsolt RD. Preclinical behavioral models for predicting antipsychotic activity. Adv Pharmacol 2009;57:381–418.10.1016/S1054-3589(08)57010-4Search in Google Scholar
31. Geyer MA, Ellenbroek B. Animal behavior models of the mechanisms underlying antipsychotic atypicality. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry 2003;27:1071–9.10.1016/j.pnpbp.2003.09.003Search in Google Scholar
32. Hoffman DC, Donovan H. Catalepsy as a rodent model for detecting antipsychotic drugs with extrapyramidal side effect liability. Psychopharmacology (Berlin) 1995;120:128–33.10.1007/BF02246184Search in Google Scholar
33. Liu R, Gao M, Qiang GF, Zhang TT, Lan X, Ying J, et al. The anti-amnesic effects of luteolin against amyloid β25–35 peptide-induced toxicity in mice involve the protection of neurovascular unit. Neuroscience 2009;162:1232–43.10.1016/j.neuroscience.2009.05.009Search in Google Scholar
©2013 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin Boston