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DOI: 10.1055/s-0033-1351964
Hypnosedative activity of P. alata and its correlation with apigenin
Passiflora alata Curtis is a Passiflora species occurring predominantly in South America popularly known as sweet passion fruit. Some species of this genus are used in folk medicine due to their tranquilizing properties. Previous studies showed the importance of flavonoid compounds to the CNS activities of several species from this genus. Hence, the aim of this work was to evaluate the hypnosedative activity of the aqueous extract from pericarp of P. alata and its major flavonoid compound apigenin in the ethyl ether-induced hypnosis test. The extract was prepared with fresh pericarp by infusion in water (1:3 w/v). Afterwards it was filtered and freeze-dried. The quantitative analysis of the flavonoids compounds was obtained by the external standard method on a HPLC (C18 column; acetonitrile: 0.5% formic acid-gradient; UV detection – 340nm, and UV spectra – 200 – 400nm range). Groups of male Swiss mice (35 – 50 g/3 months) were p.o. treated with the extract of P. alata (100, 300 and 600 mg/Kg), apigenin (0.1, 0.3, 0.6 and 1.0 mfg/Kg) or vehicle (water – control group) and, 1h later, animals were individually placed in an ethyl ether (6 mL during 13 min) saturated glass cage (20 × 15 cm). The duration of sleep (in s) was recorded. Diazepam (DZP – 1 mg/kg, p.o.) was administered to mice of the positive control group. Data were presented as mean ± S.E.M of the time (s) analyzed by one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test. Apigenin was found as the major flavonoid compound in the pericarp extract of P. alata (0.227 ± 0.008 mg/g of extract). Considering the treatments, the aqueous extract from the pericarp of P. alata (600 mg/kg) and apigenin (0.6 mg/Kg) significantly enhanced the duration of sleep (Fig. 1), suggesting a hypnosedative activity. This study showed that the aqueous extract from the pericarp of P. alata can be effective as hypnosedative and this activity seems to be, at least in part, correlated to apigenin levels.
![](https://www.thieme-connect.de/media/plantamedica/201313/10-1055-s-0033-1351964-ipb19.jpg)
Fig. 1
Research support: FAPESC, CAPES, CNPq