Evaluation of anxiolytic effects of silymarin extract from Silybum marianum in rats

Anxiety is a common psychiatric disorder affecting many people in the society and is associated with clinical symptoms such as tachycardia, sweating, shortness of breath, insensitivity. The objective of this study was to evaluate anxiolytic effects of sylimarin extract in wistar rats. 35 male Wistar rats with a mean weight of 250±25grams were divided into 5 experimental groups (n=7). Silymarin was purchased from Goldaroo company in Isfahan. The rats received sylimarin with different doses of 35, 70, 140 and 280 mg/Kg for two weeks. The control group received saline orally with the same volume. Then, using elevated plus maze (EPM), 30 minutes after treatment, the behavior of the experimental groups was compared to that of control group. Data were introduced into SPSS software and analyzed by variance analysis. According to the results of this study, sylimarin with the three doses of 35, 70 and 140 mg/Kg caused a statically significant decrease in anxiety, in comparison to the control group. Our data showed that silymarin seems to be a potential and effective anxiolytic agent and can be used for anxiety control.