Comparison of CurrantHydroalcoholic Extract andDiazepam on SerumCorticosterone Levels in Adult Male Mice

Glucocorticoids are observed to increase at anxiety and different stressful situations. This augmentation is driven by stimulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis which can threaten physical and mental health in long-term. Thus, this study compared the effects of diazepam and currant hydroalcoholic extract on serum corticosterone level in adult male rat. In this study, 48 adult male mice were used in 6 groups of 8 animals, including the control (no treatment), Sham (receiving water) and 4 experimental groups receiving doses of 100, 200, 400 mg/kg from currant hydroalcoholic extract and 1 mg/kg of diazepam by gavage. After 15 days, rats perceived stress in elevated plus maze, after which corticosterone level was measured in the serum of the blood collected from their heart. Results were statically analyzed using ANOVA and Tukey's test. The results of this study showed that the doses of 200 and 400 mg/kg from currant extract significantly increases (P≤0.05) and diazepam significantly decreases (P≤0.01) the corticosterone levels I serum. Diazepam reduced corticosterone levels in serum by affecting the benzodiazepine receptors and facilitating inhibitory effect of GABA while currant extract increased it probably by stimulating noradrenergic pathways.