Anti-stress effects of the hydroalcoholic extract of in mice.

, a plant of the genus, has been used widely since the 13 century and is cultivated in many areas as a medicinal plant for the preparation of herbal medicines. However, details of the neuropsychological effects of remain unclear; therefore we aimed to investigate the neuropsychological effects of a water-soluble extract of in male C57BL/6N mice under normal conditions and under chronic stress. We administered a water-soluble extract of to mice and performed a series of behavioral experiments to compare the treated animals with the untreated controls. No significant differences in activity level, anxiety-like behavior, depression-like behavior, body weight, and body temperature were observed between -treated mice and control mice. However, in mice subjected to chronic stress, the observed decrease in activity was smaller in the -treated mice than in the control mice. The oral administration of did not affect the normal behavior of mice. However, when the mice were subjected to stress, exerted an anti-stress effect. Therefore, has potential as a medicinal plant for the purpose of stress prevention.