hypericum and Panic-Disorder

Natural remedies have been widely used and generally accepted as established treatments of depressive disorders, leading to the investigation of their potential role and efficacy in the treatment of the various anxiety disorders.. Numerous case reports, open-label, and placebo-controlled trials investigating the use of natural remedies in the treatment of anxiety disorders have yielded some encouraging results.. Overall, these studies have indicated a potential role for natural remedies in the treatment of anxiety and suggest that such agents may possess a safer side effects profile when compared to conventional agents. However, these early findings, albeit promising, are yet to be supported by further investigation in large-scale, placebo-controlled studies.. This article reviews past and present research being performed in this area of clinical interest, while also revealing a remarkable paucity of data.

Topics: Anti-Anxiety Agents; Antioxidants; Anxiety Disorders; Humans; Hypericum; Inositol; Kava; Melatonin; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder; Panic Disorder; Passiflora; Phytotherapy; Valerian

Hypericum perforatum extract exhibits an antidepressant effect and since several antidepressant drugs are also effective on generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic disorders (PD), H. perforatum may possess some anxiolytic/antipanic effect. Thus, the aim of the present study was to evaluate the putative antipanic/anxiolytic effect of standardised H. perforatum extract (LI 160) on rats tested in the elevated T-maze, an animal model of innate (panic) and learned (generalised) anxiety, at doses that exhibit antidepressant-like activity. H. perforatum (150, 300 and 500 mg/kg, administered orally 24, 18 and 1h before the test) decreased the immobility time in the forced swim test. Rats were treated orally with H. perforatum (150 or 300 mg/kg) or paroxetine (5mg/kg) 24, 18, and 1h before being tested in the elevated T-maze (subacute treatment). Immediately after this test, the animals were submitted to the open field to evaluate locomotor activity. Paroxetine was used as a positive control, since it was clinically effective in GAD and PD. Other groups of animals were submitted to the same drug treatment for 7 days (subchronic treatment). Paroxetine (5mg/kg) impaired inhibitory avoidance after subacute treatment, while subchronic administration increased one-way escape latency. Subacute treatment with H. perforatum (300 mg/kg) exerts a partial anxiolytic-like effect in the inhibitory avoidance task. Repeated administration of H. perforatum (300 mg/kg) induced an anxiolytic effect (decreased inhibitory avoidance) and an antipanic effect (increased one-way escape). No effect on locomotor activity was found with any treatment. Thus, the results suggest that H. perforatum extract could exert an anxiolytic and antipanic effect.

Topics: Analysis of Variance; Animals; Anxiety; Avoidance Learning; Drug Administration Schedule; Hypericum; Male; Maze Learning; Panic; Panic Disorder; Paroxetine; Plant Extracts; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors; Swimming