Neurobehavioural activities of the ethanol leaf extract of calophyllum inophyllum in rodents.

Aim: The present study was designed to investigate the central nervous system activities of the ethanol leaf extract of Calophyllum inophyllum in rodents.

Methods: The neurobehavioural tests used include the hole board, open field, elevated plus maze and the light/dark box tests. The animals were divided into the control (normal saline, 10 ml/kg) experimental (50-150 mg/kg) and the reference groups (indomethacin,10 mg/kg) after which they were subjected to the above tests.

Results: The results showed that in the hole board test, the 100 and 200 mg/kg doses resulted in a significant (p < 0.01) reduction in the number of head dips compared with the control, while in the light and dark box test there was a significant (p < 0.01) increase in the time spent in the dark arena compared with the control. The open field test revealed a reduction in the total locomotion compared with the control although not statistically significant, While the time spent in the closed arm increased significantly (p < 0.05) at all doses, the rearing frequencies were significantly (p < 0.05) reduced at all doses, only the 200 mg/kg dose reduced the grooming frequencies significantly (p < 0.05).

Conclusion: These results suggest that the ethanol leaf extract of Calophyllum inophyllum contains some active principles which may be sedative/anxiogenic in nature.