Abstract

NEUROPHARMACOLOGICAL PROFILE OF MORINDA CITRIFOLIA (LINN.)

Prashant Ajmire*¹, Dattatray Veer², Nilesh Mahajan¹, Raju Thenge¹, Vaibhao Adhao¹.

ABSTRACT

Noni (Morinda citrifolia L.) is widely used for different illnesses including CNS disorders. Recently Noni has been reported to prevent amyloid beta induced memory impairment in mice. However, there is no profile on neuropharmacological studies available so far on Noni. The present study deals with the investigation of alcoholic extracts of leaves of the plant Morinda citrifolia for locomotor, muscle-relaxant, anxiolytic and anti-convulsant activities. The alcoholic extracts were administered in a dose of 150 and 300 mg/kg, p.o. The extract prolonged onset of the phases of seizure activity and also diminution in the anxiety response was observed. No changes in spontaneous locomotor activity were produced posterior to Morinda citrifolia administration. Morinda citrifolia did not demonstrate any effect on the muscle co-ordination, as indicated by the findings with respect to the Rota rod model. The anxiolytic and anticonvulsant effects obtained in these experiments support the hypothesis that Morinda citrifolia possesses CNS activity.

Keywords: anxiolytic, anti-convulsant, locomotor, Morinda citrifolia, Noni.