PHYTOTHERAPY RESEARCH, VOL. zyxwvutsrq 10, 181-183 (1996) zyxwvu SHORT COMMUNICATION zyxwv Antistress Activity of zyxw Tinospora cordfolia and Centella asiutica Extracts D. N. K. Sarma and R. L. Khosa* Department of Pharmaceutics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221 005, India J. P. N. Chansauria M. Sahai Centre of Experimental Medicine and zyxwvutsr Surgery, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221 005, India Department of Medicinal Chemistry, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi-221 005, India lfnospora cordifolia Miers. and Centella asiatica Linn. were screened for their putative antistress activity in a battery of experiments. Ethanol extracts of both drugs at 100 mg/kg exhibited significant antistress activity in all the parameters studied, compared with diazepam at 2.5 mg/kg. Keywords: Tinospora cordijolia;Centella asiatica; adaptogens; antistress activity INTRODUCTION Tinospora cordifolia Miers. (Menispermaceae) and Cen- rella asiatica Linn. (Umbelliferae) are widely used in the Indian system of medicine for their tonic properties. In the present studies, a number of stress tests were employed to evaluate the antistress activity profile. Diazepam, which is known for its normalizing activity against stressors (Ray et al., 1991), was used as a control drug for the purpose of comparison. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant material and extraction. Centella asiutica and the roots of T. cordifolia were obtained from the local forests of Varanasi (U.P., India) and identified by Dr V. K. Joshi, Department of Dravya Guna, Banaras Hindu University. Voucher specimens (PH/02/92 and PH/03/92 for T. cordifolia and C. asiatica respectively) are preserved at the Department of Pharmaceutics, Banaras Hindu Uni- versity. The plant materials were defatted by soxhlation with petroleum ether (60"-80"), the ethanol extracts were prepared by soxhlation with ethanol (95%). The ethanol extracts were dried and made into a suspension in water containing 20% v/v propylene glycol and 0.08% Tween- 80. Animals. The experiments were conducted on inbred male adult albino rats of the Charles-Foster strain (150 zyxwvut ? 20 g). The animals were housed in polypropylene cages (3 in each cage) at an ambient temperature of 25'22 "C with 55%-65% relative humidity and a 12-h light-dark cycle. They had free access to water and normal laboratory diet (Lipton India Ltd.). ' Author to whom correspondence should be addressed. Each drug suspension was administered, to the respective treatment group, at a dose of 100 mg/kg, once daily in the morning through gastric intubation. The control animals received drug vehicle (1 mL) and the diazepam control animals received 2.5 mg/kg diazepam for a similar period. The following methods were used to investigate the antistress activity of these plant drugs. Photocell activity cage method (Kinnaird and Carr, 1957). The experimental set up involved a photoactometer (Techno Instruments, Lucknow, India) (28 X 28 X 32 cm) with slots at the bottom for admission and exit of light beams. A group of animals (5 rats per treatment group) were placed in the cage, 1 h after administration of the tenth dose and the 15-min digital count of their movements was recorded. Rotating rod method (Dunham and Miya, 1957). The test set up involved a horizontally rotating rod (3.3 cm in diameter and rotating at 10 rpm). One hour after the administration of the tenth dose, each animal was subjected to the test and was adjudged to have "passed" the test if it could maintain motor coordination during the 5-min test period. Forced swimming endurance method (Porsolt et al., 1977; Weiss et al., 1981). Rats were individually forced to swim inside a tank (90 X 50 X 40 cm) containing 25 cm water, maintained at 25" zyxwv 2 2 "C. The period of onset and total duration of immobility were assessed in a 6-min test. An animal was adjudged to be immobile when it remained floating in water without struggling and making only those movements necessary to keep its head above water. The treatment protocol was the same as mentioned earlier. Autoanalgesia method (Bhattacharya et al., 1978). One hour after the administration of the tenth dose, an ink blackened portion of rat's tail was exposed to the radiations from a hot wire on an analgesiometer (Techno instruments, Lucknow, India) with a cut-off time of 30 s. The latency between the onset of stimulus and the removal of tail (tail flick) was noted (in seconds). CCC 095 I 4 1 8)(/96/020 1 8 1-03 @ 1996 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Accepted (revised) I6 March I995