en تخصصي Special پژوهشي Research Article <aside style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, Arial; word-wrap: break-word; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: 700;">Background:</span>&nbsp;Anxiety is a physiological state characterized by cognitive, somatic, emotional, and behavioral components. There is some evidence in traditional medicine for the effectiveness of lettuce (<i style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word;">Lactuca sativa</i>) in the treatment of anxiety in humans.</p> </aside> <aside style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, Arial; word-wrap: break-word; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: 700;">Objectives:</span>&nbsp;The present study investigated the effects of a hydro-alcoholic extract of lettuce on rat behavior in the elevated plus-maze (EPM) and the results compared with the effects of diazepam.</p> </aside> <aside style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, Arial; word-wrap: break-word; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: 700;">Materials and Methods:</span>&nbsp;Adult male Wistar rats weighing 200 &ndash; 240 g were used in the present study. Seven different groups of rats received an intraperitoneal (IP) injection of lettuce extract (50, 100, 200 mg/kg), diazepam (0.3, 0.6, or 1.2 mg/kg), or vehicle (control group), 30 minutes before entering the EPM test. The total distance covered by the animals, the percentage of entries into the open arms of the EPM, the time spent in the open arms, and the number of entries into the closed arms were recorded for a 5 minutes duration.</p> </aside> <aside style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, Arial; word-wrap: break-word; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: 700;">Results:</span>&nbsp;An IP injection of both diazepam and lettuce extract before an EPM trial significantly increased the percentage of open arm entries and the time spent in the open arms. Diazepam decreased the total distance covered by the animals and the number of closed arm entries, whereas lettuce extract had no effect on these parameters. Locomotor activity was not significantly changed by the lettuce extract.</p> </aside> <aside style="box-sizing: border-box; font-family: Lato, Arial; word-wrap: break-word; margin-bottom: 10px; font-size: 11px;"> <p style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; margin: 0px 0px 10px; font-size: 12px; text-align: justify;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; word-wrap: break-word; font-weight: 700;">Conclusions:</span>&nbsp;Acute administration of lettuce extract has an anxiolytic profile in rats similar to that of anxiolytic diazepam at low dose. Future investigations are essential for better understanding of the anxiolytic properties and neurobiological mechanisms of lettuce extract.</p> </aside> Anxiety, Lettuce (Lactuca sativa), Anti Anxiety, Agents, Diazepam, Rat 14 19 http://ajnpp.umsha.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-2-5&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Alireza Komaki alirezakomaki@gmail.com 100319475328460016 100319475328460016 Yes Neurophysiology Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran Zarife Khaledi Nasab 100319475328460017 100319475328460017 No Neurophysiology Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran Siamak Shahidi 100319475328460018 100319475328460018 No Neurophysiology Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran Abdolrahman Sarihi 100319475328460019 100319475328460019 No Neurophysiology Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran Iraj Salehi 100319475328460020 100319475328460020 No Neurophysiology Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran Ahvan Ghaderi 100319475328460021 100319475328460021 No Neurophysiology Research Center, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences, Hamadan, IR Iran