Neuropharmacological activity of the pericarp of Passiflora edulis flavicarpa degener: putative involvement of C-glycosylflavonoids.

Passiflora edulis has been used in traditional medicine as a sedative and to treat or prevent central disorders such as anxiety and insomnia. In this study, the central effects of the aqueous extract (AE), the butanolic fraction (BF), and the aqueous residual fraction (ARF) obtained from the pericarp of P. edulis flavicarpa were investigated in mice and the possible compounds involved in these putative neuropharmacologic effects were determined.

The dorsal raphe nucleus exerts opposed control on generalized anxiety and panic-related defensive responses in rats.

It has been proposed that the ascending dorsal raphe (DR)-serotonergic (5-HT) pathway facilitates conditioned avoidance responses to potential or distal threat, while the DR-periventricular 5-HT pathway inhibits unconditioned flight reactions to proximal danger. Dysfunction on these pathways would be, respectively, related to generalized anxiety (GAD) and panic disorder (PD). To investigate this hypothesis, we microinjected into the rat DR the benzodiazepine inverse receptor agonist FG 7142, the 5-HT(1A) receptor agonist 8-OH-DPAT or the GABA(A) receptor agonist muscimol.