Bangladesh Journal of 
Pharmacology 

 Volume: 10; Number 2; Year 2015 

 

Cite this article as: Paul I, Mundugaru R, Prakash N, Basavaiah R. Anxyiolytic activity of fortified Centella asciat-
ica. Bangladesh J Pharmacol. 2015; 10: 427-29. 



Anxyiolytic activity of fortified Centella asciatica

Sir, 

Mandookaparni (Centella asiatica) is a medicinal plant 
used in Ayurveda since thousands of year and listed in 
the historic Shusruta Samhita, an ancient Ayurvedic 

medicinal text. The fortified form of C. asiatica is 
prepared by giving Bhavana (triturating with decoction 

prepared from C. asiatica leaves) to the C. asiatica 
powder. The herb C. asiatica is extensively used in 
various parts of India for various ailments like 
headache, body ache, asthma (Chopra et. al., 1986). It is 

also reported that C. asiatica used in various mental 
disorders and is regarded as one of the best psycho-

tropic drugs. C. asiatica and its chemical constituent 
asiaticoside were evaluated for its anxiolytic activity in 
rats (Wijeweera et al., 2006). The anxiety disorders are 
increasing in general population and there is a great 
need of cost effective, less addictive, toxic free drugs for 
the management of anxiety disorders. In this regard we 

planned to study the fortified form of C. asiatica 
screened for its anxiolytic activity in wistar albino rats.  

Wistar albino rats of 200 ± 50 g and Swiss albino mice of 
either sex, weighing between 30-40 g were used in the 

present study. The dose of fortified form of C. asiatica 
for anti anxiety activity in human is 6 g. The dose for 
the rat and mice were calculated on the basis of body 
surface area ratio by referring to the standard table of 
Paget and Barnes (Pagets et and Barnes, 1964). The test 
drug was suspended in 0.5% gum acacia and 
administered orally with the help of oral catheter at a 
dose of 540 mg/kg body weight for rats in open field 
test and 780 mg/kg for mice in mirror chamber and 

zero maze test. In the open field behavior test the 
number of rearings, number of fecal pellets expelled, 
number of squares crossed, duration of immobility 
(freezing time), and time of initiation were recorded 
(Bhattacharya and Satyan, 1997). Spontaneous 
motor activity was studied by using an actophoto-
meter. The number of horizontal movements, num-
ber of vertical movements and total number of acti-
vity parameters were recorded (Kulkarni and 
Reddy, 1996). Mirror chamber test the latency of 
entry, number of partial entries, number of full 
entries, time spent inside the mirrored chamber 
during 5 min of observation (Reddy and Kulkarni, 
1997). In the zero maze test the time spends in the 
open and closed section were measured. The number 
of entry in to open tunnel, frequency of entry in to 
open tunnel, number of head dips in the closed 
tunnel, number of head dips in the open tunnel and 
number of times the mouse crossed from one 
section to the other section of the zero maze were noted 
down (Kulkarni et al., 2007).  

Open field behaviour there is a significant increase in 
the rearing activity and the number of squares 
crossed in the outer circle was considerably 
increased and number of middle squares was 
decreased in the test drug administered group in 
comparison to normal control group. FCA has been 
increased the activity on both horizontal and vertical 
plane during five minutes of observation in acto-
photometer in comparison to normal control group.  

In the mirror chamber test there is a remarkable 
decrease in the time taken to entry into the mirror 
chamber (latency period) and significantly  increased 
number of partial and full entry into the mirror 
chamber in comparison to normal control group. In 

A Journal of the Bangladesh Pharmacological Society (BDPS) Bangladesh J Pharmacol 2015; 10: 427-29 

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ISSN: 1991-0088; DOI: 10.3329/bjp.v10i2.23189 

Letter to the Editor 

Table I: Effect of test drug on the activity profile of rat in open field behaviour and actophotometer test

Groups Open field behaviour Locomotor activity in actophotometer

No. of out-
er squares 

crossed

No. of 
middle 
squares 
crossed

Number of 
rearing 

Number 
of groom-

ing 

Number 
of fecal 
pellets 

Horizontal 
movement 

(X axis )

Vertical 
movement 

(Y axis) 

Total  
activity 

(X+Y) 

Control 52.5 
(16.3) 

5.0 
(3.8) 

9.3 
(2.2) 

2.8 
(0.9) 

1.0 
(0.4) 

191.8 
(22.9) 

199.6 
(27.1) 

392.0 
(49.8) 

Diazepam 
2 mg/kg

84.8 
(14.4) 

2.2 
(2.0) 

8.7 
(1.6) 

2.3 
(0.6) 

0.5 
(0.2) 

168.2 
(29.9) 

144.3 
(34.0) 

312.5 
(62.8) 

FCA  
540 mg/kg 

75.7 
(8.2) 

0.3 
(0.2) 

15.7 
(0.8)* 

3.2 
(0.7) 

1.7 
(0.3) 

244.2 
(33.8) 

293.5 
(38.5) 

537.7 
(57.8) 

Data in mean (SEM);  *p<0.05 in comparison to normal control group rats; FCA – Fortified Centella asiatica



zero maze performance there is a decrease in the 
latency period of exploration; considerable increase in 
the time spent in open tunnel and open head dips in 
comparison to normal control group rats. Reference 
standard (diazepam) has shown considerable increase 
in the duration stay at open tunnel and significant 
reduction in the time spent in side the closed tunnel 
(Table II).  

The primary important focus of the present study was 
the assessment of anti-anxiety activity. The result 
obtained from zero maze test, mirror chamber test, 
actophotometer test and open field behaviour clearly 
shows that the test drug has significant anti anxiety 
activity. 

The test drug did not affect gross behaviour to 
significant extent. This clearly indicates that the 
administration of fortified Centella asiatica suspension 
did not produce any signs of either CNS depression or 
CNS stimulation. To supplement the observations 
made in the gross behaviour tests the data obtained 
from actophotometer were analysed. The results 
obtained in the present study showed a moderate non-
significant increase in spontaneous motor activity in 
FCA given group. Dopamine’s role in control of 
movement is well known. Mesolimbic and nigrostriatal 
dopamine systems has predominant role in this. 
Increased locomotor activity is indicative of enhanced 
dopaminergic activity especially, in rodents irrespective 
of it being horizontal or vertical. Even the stereotypy 
involving movement is also considered to involve 
dopaminergic system. However, locomotor activity is 
multifactorial and is influenced by other factors and 
neurotransmitters. In this regard it is pertinent to 
mention the involvement of glutamate receptor 
especially its variant N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) 
receptor subtypes. Antagonists of this receptor type are 
reported to produce hyperactivity implicating its role in 
modulating the motor activity (van den Buuse, 2010). 

The test drug has significantly prolonged the stay of the 
animal in open tunnel, the primary index predictive of 

anti-anxiety activity. Further the open head dips also 
higher in these groups compared to the control group. 
In the open field behaviour the number of squares 
crossed by the test group where more compared to the 
control group .The activities like grooming and rearing 
also increased in the test group compared to both 
standard and control group ,which is the indicative of 
the anti-anxiety activity. The latency for entering inside 
the mirror chamber was decreased and the number of 
entries and partial entries inside the mirror chamber 
was increased in the test group in comparison to 
control. Thus the results obtained in our study provide 
evidence for the presence of anti-anxiety activity.  

Acknowledgement  

Authors are highly grateful to our revered President, Dr. D. 
Veerendra Heggade for the constant support, Dr. B. 
Yashoverma, Secretary, SDM Educational Society for the 
guidance.  

Issac Paul1, Ravi Mundugaru2, Narayana Prakash1  
and Ravishankar Basavaiah2 

1Department of Manasa Roga SDM College of Ayurveda and 
Hospital Hassan; 2Department of Pharmacology and 
Toxicology, SDM Centre for Research in Ayurveda and Allied 
Sciences, Udupi, India 574 118. 

Corresponding author: ravisdm13@gmail.com

References 

Battacharya SK, Satyan KS. Experimental methods for evalua-
tion of psychotropic agents in rodants: I- Antianxiety agents. 
Indian J Exper Biol. 1997: 35; 565-75.  

Chopra RN, Nayar SL, Chopra IC. Glossary of Indian medi-
cinal plants. New Delhi, Council of Scientific and Industrial 
Research, 1986, pp 51-83.  

Kulkarni SK, Singh K, Bishnol M. Elevated zero maze: A 
paradigm to evaluate antianxiety effects of drugs. Methods 
Find Exp Clin Pharmacol. 2007; 5: 343 

Table II: Effect of test drug on the activity profile of mice in mirror chamber and zero maze test

Groups Latency 
(sec) 

Activity profile in the  mirror chamber Zero maze test 

No. of 
entry 

Full 
entry 

Partial 
entry 
(fore 
limbs 
only) 

Total 
No. of 
partial 
entries 

Total 
No. of 
entries 

Latency 
of onset 
of explo-

ration 
(sec) 

Duration 
of stay in 

open 
tunnel 
(sec) 

Duration 
of stay in 

closed 
tunnel 
(sec) 

No. of 
open 
head 
dips 

Control 151.7  
(28.3) 

0.6 
(0.4) 

7.3 
(1.5) 

8.3 
(2.0) 

8.1 
(1.3) 

3.2 
(0.7) 

08.5 
(2.2) 

43.5 
(6.1) 

153.0 
(30.8) 

11.2 
(1.3) 

Diazepam 
2 mg/kg

115.0 
(15.8) 

4.8 
(3.3) 

2.0 
(1.0) 

2.0 
(1.0) 

2.0 
(0.7) 

7.5 
(1.4) 

05.3 
(3.0) 

109.7 
(41.1) 

42.3 
(15.2)* 

08.7 
(5.8) 

FCA  
780 mg/kg 

58.4 
(12.5) 

16.7 
(5.3) 

12.8 
(3.7) 

16.8 
(2.6)* 

14.8 
(2.2)* 

15.4 
(2.1) 

12.8 
(3.4) 

66.3 
(16.1) 

142.2 
(33.0) 

20.5 
(4.3) 

Data in mean (SEM);  *p<0.05 in comparison to normal control group rats; FCA – Fortified Centella asiatica

428 Bangladesh J Pharmacol 2015; 10: 427-429 

mailto:ravisdm13@gmail.com


 

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Wijeweera P, Arnason JT, Koszycki D, Merali Z. Evaluation of 
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