Indian Journal of Experimental Biology Vol. 44, January 2006, pp. 45-48 Effect of BR-16A (Mentat®), a polyherbal formulation on drug-induced catalepsy in mice Anil Kumar & S K Kulkarni* University Institute of Pharmaceutical Science, Panjab University, Chandigarh 160 014, India Received 31 January 2005; revised 15 September 2005 Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the selective loss of dopamine (DA) neurons of the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNc). The events, which trigger and/or mediate the loss of nigral DA neurons, however, remain unclear. Neuroleptic-induced catalepsy has long been used as an animal model for screening drugs for Parkinsonism. Administration of haloperidol (1 mg/kg, ip) or reserpine (2 mg/kg, ip) significantly induced catalepsy in mice. BR-16A (50 and 100 mg/kg, po), a polyherbal formulation or ashwagandha (50 and 100 mg/kg, po), significantly reversed the haloperidol or reserpine-induced catalepsy. The results indicate that BR-16A or ashwagandha has protective effect against haloperidol or reserpine-induced catalepsy and provide hope that BR-16A could be used in preventing the drug- induced extrapyramidal side effects and may offer a new therapeutic approach to the treatment of Parkinson's disease. Keywords: Ashwagandha, BR-16A, Catalepsy, Haloperidol, Reserpine [IPC Code: Int Cl 7 A61 P] Neuroleptics are extensively used in the treatment of schizophrenia and other affective disorders 1 . Unfortunately their use is often associated with distressing side effects involving in the case Parkinson’s and tardive dyskinesia 2,3 . Neuroleptic- induced catalepsy has long been used as a model for the extrapyramidal side effects (EPS), such as Parkinsonian-like bradykinesia associated with antipsychotic use in humans 4 . Evidences indicate that haloperidol or reserpine induce catalepsy in animals and this behavioral response has long been used as a model for extra pyramidal side effects 5,6 . Besides, dopamine receptor blockade and catecholamine depletion, other neurochemical hypotheses have been proposed for the development of catalepsy such as striatonigral GABAergic, cholinergic, glutamate and sertonoergic etc 7-9 . BR-16A, an herbal psychotropic preparation contains the following indigenous ingredients: Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri), Mandakparani (Centella asiatica), Vacha (Acorus calamus), ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Giloi (Tinospora cordifolia), Amla (Embelica officinalis), Shankhpushpi (Evolvulus aisinoides), Kuth (Saussurea lappa) and Triphala (Terminalia belerica, Terminalia chebula and Terminalia arjuna) 10 . BR-16A has been reported to be effective in improving ability and behavioral disturbances in mentally retarded children 10 . It is also reported to be beneficial in cerebral deficit, behavioral disturbances following postnatal organic lesions of CNS 11 . Ashwagandha, a major constituent of BR16A formulation is used in Ayurvedic medicine to (a) attenuate cerebral functional deficits in the geriatric population, (b) augment the faculty of learning and memory retention in both normal and deficient individuals and (c) provide non-specific host defense. A decoction containing cows milk powdered Mucuna pruriens seeds and Withania somnifera has been reported to be effective in 18 clinically diagnosed parkinsonian patients 12 and tardive dyskinesia management therapy 13 . Although the exact mechanism(s) of action for these properties are not fully understood, Ashwagandha is reported to influence various neurotransmitter receptors in the CNS. Further BR-16A and Ashwaganda are reported to be safe in long-term use with no adverse effects 14,15 . With this background, the present study has been designed to explore the protective effect of BR-16A a polyherbal formulation on drug-induced catalepsy. Materials and Methods Animals⎯Laca mice of either sex (weighing 20-25 g), bred in Central Animal House facility of Panjab University, were used. The animals were housed _______________ *Correspondent author Phone: 091-172-2534114, 2534106 Fax: 091-172-2779426, 2541142 E mail: skpu@yahoo.com