DOI: 10.21276/sajp.2016.5.9.3

Pages: 377-382

Anxiety disorders have consistently been found to be associated with substantial impairments in both productive and social roles. They are considered among the most prevalent psychiatric conditions, affecting the general population of industrialized societies. Since anxiety and panic disorders are the most common psychiatric disorders, one of the therapeutic approaches used is pharmacological intervention. Benzodiazepines have been used but there are clinical problems associated such as tolerance and addiction etc. Procedures ranging from yoga and meditation to anxiolytic drugs have been used to counter the aversive effects of anxiety, but appear to have limited use. A number of herbal medicines are commonly used for the treatment of neurological and psychological disorders. The present study aims to evaluate anxiolytic / anti-anxiety potential of the Angelica glauca in experimental model of anxiety. Angelica glauca (Gandhrayan) belongs to family Apiaceae. It is a high altitude medicinal plant of Himalaya. Species of Angelica have been used in ancient traditional medicine systems. But the plant has not been studied for its anxiolytic activity, which is likely to be present in view of its use to treat a wide variety of conditions. Methanolic extract of Angelica glauca was studied at graded doses to evaluate its anxiolytic effect. The anxiolytic activity was measured by behavioural observations conducted through elevated plus maze, open field and hole board test and compared with control and standard control. Result indicates that Angelica glauca possesses anxiolytic property.