Anxiolytic and anti-depressant effect of Salvia spp. essential oil on rat model of Autism Spectrum Disorder

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Résumé

Autism or Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a human psychiatric disorder characterized by abnormal social interaction and communication with restricted repetitive behaviors. This disorder is most often accompanied by anxiety and depression. Medicinal plants have an inexhaustible potential of bioactive molecules. Salvia spp. has an essential oil with psychotropic effects. The aim of our study was to evaluate the anxiolytic and anti-depressant properties of Salvia spp. essential oil on rat model of ASD. Social interaction (SIT), elevated plus maze (EPM) and forced swim (FS) tests methods were used respectively to assess autistic, anxiety and depression status of rats. Rats with ASD spent less time in the cage containing the control rat or the new rat and more time in the empty cage in SIT compared to normal rats. Salvia spp. (3%) essential oil has anxiolytic effect by decreasing the anxiety state created by valproic acid by increasing the 20/Bulletin of Integrative Psychiatry New Series March 2020 Year XXVI No. 1 (84) number and time spent in the open arms (1.750.25; P = 0.009, F = 11.55) of the apparatus. Salvia essential oil had an antidepressant effect on VPA 500 rats with severe depression (P=0.00078, F=16.233). This oil has significantly reduced the immobility time in forced swims. This study confirmed once again the pharmacological effect of the essential oil of Salvia genus plants on the one hand and their psychotropic potential exploited in traditional medicine on the other.

Mots-clés

Depressant, Anxiolytic, Traditional medicine, Pharmacology, Medicine, Psychology, Psychiatry, Anxiety