Comparative Hypnotic Effect of Rosa damascena Fractions and Diazepam in Mice

Rosa damascena has been found to act on central nervous system including the brain. Several studies confirm that R. damascena inhibits the activity of the hypothalamus and pituitary systems in rat and can suppress the central nervous system. In traditional medicine hypnotic effect of Rose is also suggested. In this study, the hypnotic effect of the ethanol crude extract of R. damascena and its fractions was investigated in mice. Hypnotic method was based on prolongation pentobarbital induced sleeping time by the extract and fractions (with water, ethyl acetate and n-butanol). Two doses of extract and fractions (250 and 500 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneal in comparison with diazepam (3 mg/kg) as the positive control and saline (10 ml/kg) as the negative control. Thirty minutes after injection of extract and fractions, pentobarbital (30 mg/kg) was injected and the increase in the sleeping time due to the extract and fractions was recorded. The results showed that the ethanol extract and fractions of R. damascena at 250 and 500 mg/kg doses prolonged the pentobarbital induced sleeping time in mice (P<0.05 to P<0.001). Among all fractions, aqueous fraction has the least, and the ethyl acetate fraction at 500 mg/kg dosage has the best hypnotic effect. In conclusion, the results of this study showed hypnotic effect of R. damascena which was more potent in ethyl acetate fraction.