Kurt üzümü (Lycium barbarum L.) meyvesinin anksiyete, depresyon ve hafıza üzerine olan etkileri

Some plant species have been used as herbal medicine and functional food for the thousand years. One of these plants is Lycium barbarum L. that belongs to the family Solanaceae. It can nourish liver and kidney, brighten eyes. The aim was to investigate how the behaviors, such as anxiety, depression and learning would be affected by methanol extract of L. barbarum fruits. In the present study, the effects of the methanol extract of L. barbarum fruits on anxiety, depression, and spatial memory in Wistar albino rats were tested. Twenty eight adult rats were selected and divided into the four groups [I. control-male (n=7), II. L. barbarum administration-male (n=7), III. control-female (n=7) and IV. L. barbarum administration-female (n=7)]. The rats were tested by a means of the open field and elevated plus maze tests for anxiety-like behaviors, the porsolt test for depression-like behaviors, and the Morris water maze test for spatial memory. The findings of the present experiment demonstrated that in the open field, extract administrated rats spent more time at the center, showed more mobility and velocity. In the elevated plus maze, extract administrated rats spent more time in the open arms, showed more mobility and velocity. In Porsolt test, extract administrated rats showed less immobility. In the Morris water maze, extract administrated rats spent more of the time to find the platform. However, females were better at finding to the platform than males. In conclusion, the extract decrease anxiety and depression-like behaviors and interacted with sex on spatial memory.