The mode of action of the anxiolytic medicinal plant Souroubea sympetala was investigated to test the hypothesis that extracts and the active principle act at the pharmacologically important GABAA-benzodiazepine (GABAA-BZD) receptor. Leaf extracts prepared by ethyl acetate extraction or supercritical extraction, previously determined to have 5.54 mg/g and 6.78 mg/g of the active principle, betulinic acid, respectively, reduced behavioural parameters associated with anxiety in a rat model. When animals were pretreated with the GABAA-BZD receptor antagonist flumazenil, followed by the plant extracts, or a more soluble derivative of the active principle, the methyl ester of betulinic acid (MeBA), flumazenil eliminated the anxiety-reducing effect of plant extracts and MeBA, demonstrating that S. sympetala acts via an agonist action on the GABAA-BZD receptor. An in vitro GABAA-BZD competitive receptor binding assay also demonstrated that S. sympetala extracts have an affinity for the GABAA-BZD receptor, with an EC50 value of 123 μg/mL (EtOAc leaf extract) and 154 μg/mL (supercritical CO2 extract). These experiments indicate that S. sympetala acts at the GABAA-BZD receptor to elicit anxiolysis.
Keywords: acide bétulinique; anxiety; anxiété; betulinic acid; ester de méthyle d’acide bétulinique; methyl ester of betulinic acid; natural health product; pharmacologie; pharmacology; produit de santé naturel.