Pharmacological Investigations on<i>Rhaponticum carthamoides</i>

Abstract

The central neurotropic activity of an aqueous-alcoholic extract from Rhaponticum carthamoides (Willd.) (Leucea carthamoides D.C.) cultivated in Bulgaria was studied in experiments on albino mice, rats and cats. In doses up to 40 g/kg the extract was non-toxic. Administered in definite doses in mice and rats, it exerted a moderate central stimulating action: increased ambulation and rearing in rats ("open field" test); increased central nervous system excitability ("jumping" test); had a slight antinarcotic effect; improved learning and memory in rats trained in a maze; and increased the physical strength of rats subjected to exhaustive swimming. Administered intraduodenally in cats the extract exerted a hypotensive effect.