Anacardium occidentale Linn. (Anacardiaceae) stem bark extract induces hypotensive and cardio-inhibitory effects in experimental animal models.

Anacardium occidentale Linn. (Anacardiaceae) is a plant largely used in Africa for the treatment of different diseases. In Côte d'Ivoire it's commonly used for the treatment of hypertension.

Behavioral effects of four antidepressants on an ischemic rat model of emotional disturbances.

The aim of this study was to examine the psychopharmacological effects of antidepressants on post-ischemic rats. Global transient cerebral ischemia was performing with the four-vessels occlusion method. Locomotor activity, neurological scores and activity during the 20 min forced swimming test (FST) session were comparatively evaluated in sham-operated and ischemic animals.

Does rat global transient cerebral ischemia serve as an appropriate model to study emotional disturbances?

We used two validated psychopharmacological methods, the forced swimming test (FST 20 min and 5 min) and the elevated plus-maze (EPM), to quantify depression-like and anxiety-like behavior induced by transient global cerebral ischemia in the rat. We also validated use of these methods for the study of antidepressant (imipramine) and anti-anxiety drugs (diazepam). Twelve days after surgery to provoke transient global ischemia, spontaneous motor activity was 40% higher in ischemic rats than in sham-operated controls.