Abstract

The present study had as an objective evaluation of the anticonvulsant and anxiolytic effect of Artemisia vulgaris through the methanol extract of its leaves. Swiss albino mice were subjected to dosages of 50, 100 and 300 mg/kg methanol extract for the study of the anticonvulsant action. The animals had suffered the response from the following convulsants: pentilenotetrazol 100 mg/kg, picrotoxin 10 mg/kg, strychnine 2 mg/kg, pilocarpine 600 mg/kg and lidocaine 200 mg/kg. In the evaluation of the anxiolytic action of the plant, the mice have been submitted to the elevated plus-maze and the Marble-Burying test (EPM and MBT). As standard drug, diazepam 2 mg/kg was used in all the experimental models. The methanol extracts presented excellent anticonvulsant activity, increasing the time of latency for the beginning of the first seizure in all the tests. The ideal dose from the methanol extract was 100 and 300 mg/kg. The anxiolytic activity was also observed using the EPM and MBT.

Key words: Artemisia vulgaris, methanolic extract, presence of essential oils, model of convulsion and anxiety, mice.