-
Journal of Ethnopharmacology, 17 (1986) 37-64 Elsevier
Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd.
37
PHARMACOLOGY OF LEMONGRASS (CYMBOPOGON CZTRATUS STAPF). I.
EFFECTS OF TEAS PREPARED FROM THE LEAVES ON LABORATORY ANIMALS*
E.A. CARLINI, JUIDA DE D.P. CONTAR, ARMANDO R. SILVA-FILHO,
NYLSON G. DA SILVEIRA-FILHO, MARIO LUIZ FROCHTENGARTEN and ORLANDO
F.A. BUENO
Departamento de Pslcobiologia, Escola Paulista de Medicina, Rua
Botucatu, 862, 04023 S&o Paula - SP (Brazil)
(Accepted April 30,1986)
Summary
Cymbopogon citrutus is one of the most used plants in Brazilian
folk medicine for the treatment of nervous and gastrointestinal
disturbances. It is also used in many other places to treat
feverish conditions. The usual way to use it is by ingesting an
infusion made by pouring boiling water on fresh or dried leaves
(which is called abafado in Portuguese). Abafados obtained from
lemongrass harvested in three different areas of Brazil (Ceara,
Minas Gerais and Slo Paulo States) were tested on rats and mice in
an attempt to add experimental confirmation to its popular
medicinal use. Citral, the main constituent of the essential oil in
Brazilian lemongrass, was also studied for comparison. Oral doses
of abafados up to 40 times (CL,,) larger than the corresponding
dosage taken by humans, or of 200 mg/kg of citral, were unable to
decrease body temperature of normal rats and/or rats made hyper-
thermic by previous administration of pyrogen. However, both
compounds acted when injected by intraperitoneal route. Oral
administration of doses C 20 -CloO of abafados and 200 mg/kg of
citral did not change the intestinal transit of a charcoal meal in
mice, nor did it decrease the defecation scores of rats in an
open-field arena. Again, by intraperitoneal route both com- pounds
were active. The possible central nervous system depressant effect
of the abafados was investigated by using batteries of 12 tests
designed to detect general depressant, hypnotic, neuroleptic,
anticonvulsant and anxio- lytic effects. In all the tests employed,
oral doses of abafados up to C,,, or of citral up to 200 mg/kg were
without effect. Only in a few instances did
*This work was aided by Central de Medicamentos (CEME) and
AssociacZo Fundo de Incentive I Psicofarmacologia (AFIP).
0378-8741/86/$10.15 o 1986 Elsevier Scientific Publishers
Ireland Ltd. Published and Printed in Ireland
-
38
intraperitoneal doses demonstrate effects. These data do no lend
support to the popular oral therapeutic use of lemongrass to treat
nervous and intestinal ailments and feverish conditions.
Introduction
Cy~~o~ogo~ citrutus Stapf. (family Gramineae), lemongrass in
English, popularly known in Brazil as capim-cidr&o or
cupim-sunto, is widely em- ployed in Brazilian folk medicine,
Prepared as a tea or abafado, it is fre- quently used as a sedative
(calmative) and hypnotic, but also as an anal- gesic, anti-emetic,
antispasmodic and to treat other stomach and intestinal ailments
(van den Berg, 1980; Matos et al., 1982; Nogueira, 1983; Paviani,
1964).
The medicinal use of lemongrass is not restricted to Brazil. On
Mauritius Island and on the Malay Peninsula it is recommended
against the common cold, pneumonia, fever and gastric problems
(Fook, 1980); in Nigeria as an antipyretic and for its stimulant
and antispasmodic effects (Olaniyi et al., 1975); in Angola and
India it is considered as an antitussigen, anti-emetic, antiseptic
and antirheumatic (Alves et al., 1960); in Indonesia it is employed
to help digestion and as a diuretic and sudorific (Hirschhorn,
1983).
Substances extracted from lemongrass are also used in medicine.
In India its essential oil is used to treat gastrointestinal
problems (Alves et al., 1960) and geraniol, one of the constituents
of the essential oil, is prescribed as an asthmolytic in China
(Peigen, 1983).
The concentration of the essential oil fraction obtained from
lemongrass varies from 0.2% up to 3% of the fresh plant (Alves et
al., 1960); a sample from South Brazil yielded 0.28% of essential
oil (Silva and Bauer, 1971). The essential oil fraction is composed
of many compounds: alcohols, aldehydes, ketones, acids, esters and
other terpenes and sesquiterpenes. In the essential oil obtained
from the plant grown in the Phillipines, Somalia, India, Ceylon,
Angola and Congo, the main component is citral (a mixture of neral
and geranial) which constitutes 30--80% of the oil fraction (Abegaz
and Yohannes, 1983; Oliveros-Belardo and Aureus, 1980; Rabha et
al., 1980; Sylva, 1980; Vale, 1964); in the Ethiopian essential oil
geraniol is the main constituent (Abegaz and Yohannes, 1983). In
two samples of essential oil obtained from lemongrass of South (Rio
Grande do Sul State) and South- east (Sdo Paulo State) Brazil,
citral was present as the main component (86% and 48%) (Silva and
Bauer, 1971; Liberalli et al., 1946).
Despite the ubiquitous medicinal use of lemongrass there is a
great paucity of pharmacological research on the plant. A survey of
Biological Abstracts from 1954 to 1983, revealed only two articles,
one dealing with the sedative effects of the essential oil from
Cymbopogon nardus (Kokate et al., 1972) and the other describing
the anti-asthmatic properties of a component of Cym~opogo~ distuns
(Huang et al., 1976). Similarly, a survey of the Cumu-
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39
luted Index Medicus from 1960 to 1982 disclosed only two
references on an antispasmodic principle present in Cymbopogon
proximus (Abdel-Moneim et al., 1969; Radwan, 1975).
The present paper deals with the pharmacological effects of the
tea of Cymbopogon citratus on laboratory animals. For comparison
purposes citral was also used. It was decided to investigate the
popular preparation (abafado) rather than chemical entities
obtained from C~mbopogon citrates in an attempt to directly confirm
the folk medicinal use of the plant.
To obtain data aiming to confirm the traditional therapeutic use
in gastro- intestinal ailments, experiments on charcoal intestinal
transit in mice anr defecation of rats in an open-field apparatus
were performed. To study the eventual antipyretic properties of
lemongrass, the body temperature of rats was measured. To evaluate
the possible depressant effect on the central nervous system the
following experiments were carried out: measurements of spontaneous
motor activity in mice, grooming and rearing of rats in the
open-field and rota-rod performance of mice, were used to given an
indica- tion of general depressant activity; measurements of the
sleep-wakefulness cycle of rats (electroencephaphalography) and
potentialization of barbitu- rate sleeping-time of mice were used
to study hypnotic activity; measure- ments of catatonic behavior
and palpebral ptosis of rats and blockade of stereotyped behavior
induced by apomorphine in rats were carried out to assess eventual
neuroleptic effect; meas~ements of neophobia reaction and punished
responses in rats were used to check a possible anxiolytic effect;
and, finally, measurements of electroshock- and pentylenetetrazol-
induced convulsions were made to assess any anticonvulsant
effect.
Materials and methods
Plant material Samples of C~mbopogon citratus Stapf. from the
state of CearL (North-
east Brazil), Srj,o Paul0 (Southeast Brazil) and Minas Gerais
(Southeast) were harvested from July to November. The specimens
were classified by bot- anists from the local universities.
The essential oil fraction of lemongrasses from Sao Paulo and
Ceari revealed 46.6% and 70.9% citral and 36.7% and 16.0% myrcene,
respectively (Matos et al., 1984, and unpublished data). The citral
from the Cear& sample was composed of 44.2% neral and 55.8%
geranial; that of Sio Paulo had 48% and 52%, respectively (Matos et
al., 1984).
The doses administered to mice and rats were based on the
amounts ingested by human beings. In Brazil the abafados are
usually prepared from two fresh leaves finely minced with scissors
or from 2 g of dried material, with 150 ml of tap water. This
corresponds to about 2.0 ml abafado/kg body wt. Leaves were dried
in an oven at 37-40C for 3 days resulting in a water loss of
67-78%.
For administration to mice an abu~udo I was prepared by pouring
150 ml
-
40
of boiling water over 2 fresh minced leaves or 2 g of powdered
dried leaves; the container was covered with aluminum foil and
wrapped with a piece of cloth until reaching room temperature and
then filtered. In a few experiments the leaves or the powder were
left in boiling water for 5 min and then covered with the aluminum
foil and cloth until reaching room temperature and then filtered
(abafudo II).
Dosing mice with 2.0 ml/kg of either abafado (dosage C,) was
considered equivalent to the amount taken by humans. Dosages Cl0
(20 ml/kg) and CZO (40 ml/kg) corresponded to, respectively, 10 and
20 times the human dosage. For larger doses the abafados were
prepared from 10 leaves or 10 g of powder to 150 ml of water.
Administering 20 and 40 ml/kg corresponded to dosages C& and
C,,,O, respectively. For still larger dosages the desired amount of
abafudo I was taken to a lyophylizer and the residue resuspended in
small volumes of water (ubufudo III).
For dosing rats, only ubufudos from 10 leaves or 10 g of powder
were used; the volumes employed varied from 0.4 ml/kg (dosage C,)
to 8 ml/kg (dosage &o).
Animals Male albino Swiss mice, 2-3 months old from our own
colony were used.
They were kept in air conditioned laboratories at a temperature
of 24 + 2C and in a 12-h dark-light cycle. Male Wistar rats, 3-4
months old from our own colony and reared in conditions similar to
the mice, were also employed.
Drugs Citral (45% neral and 55% geranial) was kindly provided by
Industria
Saccoman Ltda., Sao Paulo-Brazil, to whom we are grateful. The
compound was solubilized with Tween-80 in distilled water (0.5%
mixture of water + Tween80). Apomorphine hydrochloride (Merck
Laboratories, U.S.A.) solu- tions, freshly prepared in distilled
water containing 1 mg/ml of ascorbic acid was used in the
stereotypy experiments. Activated charcoal (Merck Labora- tories,
U.S.A.), 10 g suspended in 100 ml of 5% gum acacia was employed to
study intestinal transit. Lipopolysaccharide from Escherichiu coli
(Sigma Chem. Co. U.S.A.) solubilized in water, was used as
pyrogenic agent. Halo- peridol (Haldol@, Johnson & Johnson
Laboratories, U.S.A.), diphenylhydan- toin sodium Parke Davis Ltd.
U.S.A.) and pentylenetetrazol (Sigma Chem. Co.) were the other
drugs employed. Water was used as the control vehicle in the
experiments with the ubufudos. Tween-80 in water (0.5%) was the
control solution in the experiments with citral.
Pharmacological methods The following tests were performed on
rats and mice.
Body temperature in ruts Groups of six rats each were given
(orally or intraperitoneally) either
-
vehicle, doses Cl0 to CGO of abafados I, II and III of
lemongrass from Sdo Paulo and CearS or 100 and 200 mg/kg of citral.
The colonic temperature, measured by inserting the sensor probe of
a digital thermometer 5-6 cm into the colon was recorded before
drug treatment (time 0) and 1, 2, 3 and 4 h after drug
administration.
In a second experiment, groups of six rats each were previously
injected with 10 mg/kg of the pyrogen agent from E. coti, Two hours
later when the rats temperature was beginning to rise, abafudos
were given to the animals orally and the temperature was again
recorded 1, 2 and 4 h later.
Intestinal transit in mice Twenty-four-hour fasted mice, in
groups of 10 animals each, received
either vehicle, abilfudo I or citral through oral or i.p.
routes. Thirty or 60 min later (see Table 2) they were given orally
0.35 ml of an aqueous suspension of 10% charcoal in 5% gum acacia
(Turner, 1965). Fifteen minutes later the animals were killed by
cervical dislocation and the small intestines removed. The distance
the charcoal had transited from the pylorus was measured and
expressed as the percentage of the total length of the small
intestines.
Open-field behavior The open field consisted of a white painted
arena of plywood measuring
48 X 28 X 20 cm in diameter with three 60 W lamps and three
loudspeakers producing a constant noise of 76 decibels. The floor
of the arena was divided into several units by black painted lines
(for details see Masur, 1972).
Groups of eight rats each were treated with several abafudos
from Sao Paulo lemongrass or with citral. One hour after oral
administration or 30 min after i.p. injection each rat was placed
in the center of the arena and defeca- tion (number of fecal
boluses eliminated), ambulation (number of floor units entered) and
rearing (number of times the rat stood up) were recorded for 3
min.
Rota-rod test Groups of 10 previously selected mice received
various doses of abafados
or citral either by oral or intraperitoneal routes, as can be
seen in Table 4. The apparatus consisted of a bar, with a diameter
of 2.5 cm subdivided into five compartments by disks 25 cm in
diameter (Dunham and Miya, 1957). The bar rotated at a constant
speed of 12 rev./min. Pre-selection of animals was done on the
experiments day by eliminating those mice which did not remain on
the bar for two consecutive periods of 1 min.
One hour after the drug administration the animals were retested
and the time they remained on the rotating bar, with a maximum of
60 s, were recorded.
Span tuneous motor activity Abafado I made from dried leaves
from Sso Paul0 and Ceari was used.
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42
Abafado III from SBo Paulo was also studied. Vehicle and citral
groups were included for comparison purposes. For each dose and
drug 10 mice were employed. Spontaneous motor activity was recorded
by means of 10 identi- cal photocell cages, each measuring 25 X 40
X 25 cm and crossed by three light-beams.
The mice were placed individu~ly in the cages 5 min after i.p.
or 30 min after oral drug administration, and the number of
light-beam interruptions was recorded for the next 30 min.
Barbiturate sleeping-tide Groups of 10 mice each were
administered orally or i.p. either with
vehicle (water), doses from CsO to C 208 of abafados I, II and
III prepared from dried leaves from Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and
Ceara or with 100 mg/ kg of citral. Thirty minutes later the
animals pretreated with the abafados or with citral received,
respectively, 50 or 40 mg/kg of sodium pentob~bit~
intraperitoneally. After the barbiturate injection the
sleeping-time (time interval between loss and recuperation of the
righting reflex) was recorded in minutes. The criterion for
recuperation of the righting reflex was fixed such that the animals
had to regain their normal posture three consecutive times.
Electroencephalographic studies (EEG) Eight rats, after
anesthesia with 200 mg/kg of methyleugenol (Carlini et
al., 1981), were stereotaxically implanted with bipolar
stainless steel elec- trodes (200 pm diameter) onto the surface of
the frontal cortices and into the posterior neck muscles. The
electrodes were connected with pins to an Amphenol@ strip connector
permanently attached to the skull with dental acrylic (Monti and
Carlini, 1979). Following surgery, the rats were housed
individually in plexiglass cages with food and water ad libitum,
ambient temperature 24 ?r 2C. Two weeks were allowed for recovery
from surgery.
The animals were submitted to two experimental sessions, 9 days
apart, one with water and the other with dose Cl0 of abafado I
obtained from dried leaves from SCo Paulo, both by oral route. Each
experimenta day the rats were introduced into the experimental
chamber 8 h before the experiment for adaptation to the recording
situation and were connected to a Beckman polygraph.
The drugs were administered at 16 : 30 h and continuous EEG
tracings were recorded for the following 12 h, that is, for 80% of
the night period.
The tracings were analysed by visual inspection to obtain the
following parameters: latencies to the first episode and total time
spent in slow wave sleep (SWS); and latency for first episode,
total number of episodes and total time spent in rapid eye movement
sleep (REM). The tracings were then divided in 6 portions of 2 h
each to calculate in each portion the time spent in total sleep
(SWS + REM), in SWS and in REM sleep.
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43
Catatonia and palpebral ptosis Groups of 8 male rats each
received either through oral or i.p. routes,
vehicle, doses Cl,, and CzO of abafado from dried leaves from
Sao Paulo or 20 and 100 mg/kg citral. An extra group of 5 rats was
treated with 1 mg/kg of haloperidol for comparison purposes.
To measure catatonia reaction the rats were gently forced to
assume an upright posture with their forepaws resting on a
horizontal glass rod located 10 cm above the floor. The measures
were performed beginning 1 and 2 h after drug administration and
each time the animals were put in that position 3 times.
The total amount of time the rats remained with the forepaws on
the rod (in the upright position) was recorded in seconds using
stopwatches.
Palpebral ptosis were recorded as grades on a scale of 0 to 4 as
follows: grade 0, eyes totally open; grade 1, eyes 213 open; grade
2, eyes l/2 open; grade 3, eyes l/3 open and grade 4, eyes totally
closed. The grades of ptosis were recorded 1 and 2 h after drug
administration, immediately before the beginning of catatonia
measures.
Blockade of stereotyped behavior induced by apomorphine Groups
of 8 rats each were treated orally with vehicle or doses Cl0
and
CzO of abafado I from dried leaves from Sao Paulo or
intraperitoneally with 100 mg/kg of citral. Two other groups of 6
rats each received 1.0 mg/kg of haloperidol, oral or i.p. routes,
for comparison purposes.
Thirty minutes later the rats were injected i.p. with 5.0 mg/kg
of apomor- phine and introduced individually in wire cages
measuring 30 X 20 X 15 cm with a wire distance of 2 cm. Latency for
the appearance of the first sign of stereotyped behavior (sniffing,
licking or biting), total time of stereotypy (time elapsed from the
beginning until the animal displayed tine first groom- ing) and the
grade of stereotypy were scored. The grades varied from 0 (none) to
7 (continuous biting of one wire of the cage without ambulation).
For further details see Troncone et al. (1986).
Transcorneal electroshock Groups of 10 mice each received
vehicle, abafados I and II from dried
leaves from Slo Paulo and Ceari or 50 and 100 mg/kg of citral.
An extra group of 6 mice were dosed with 5.0 mg/kg of
diphenylhydantoin for comparison purposes. Thirty minutes after
drug administration the mice received a transcorneal electroshock
of 8 mA and 0.2 s duration. The number of animals showing tonic
convulsions and number of deaths were recorded. For the test the
recommendations of Swinyard et al. (1952) were observed.
Pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsions Groups of 10 mice each
were previously administered vehicle, abafados I
from fresh or dried leaves from Sao Paulo or citral. Thirty
minutes later the
-
animals received 100 mg/kg of pentylene~trazol subcutaneously in
the back of the neck. Each animal was covered by an inverted 2-l
capacity beaker. The number of animals showing clonic convulsions,
tonic convulsions and the number of deaths were recorded.
Neophobia reaction of rats Groups of 6 rats each were orally
dosed with vehicle, CZO of abafado I
from dried leaves of lemongrass from Slo Paulo or 5.0 mg/kg of
diazepam. One hour after drug admjnistration the rats were removed
from the animal facilities, where they were kept 6 to a wooden
cage, and were indi~du~ly introduced into metal pails of 20-l
capacity (novel environment) containing a previously weighed candy
of sweetened milk (novel food). Fifteen, 30, 60 and 90 min later
the candies were weighed again in order to determine food
consumption. For further details on the method see Silveira Filho
and Tufik, (1981).
Punished response test Rats deprived of water for 48 h were
individually introduced in an acrylic-
walled box (30 X 15 X 30 cm) provided with a drinking tube and a
grid floor. The number of licks was recorded for 10 min. The day
after this first session, a sound of 8 s duration was introduced at
a variable interval, signalizing that during the final 5 s of each
sound period electrical shocks of 0.1 s duration and 0.4 mA could
be delivered to the tongue at each lick (punished respon- ses). The
procedure was repeated until stable baselines were obtained, i.e.
the rats licked much during the periods without sound and very
little during the sound.
Three groups of 6 previously trained animals each received,
respectively, water as vehicle, dose CZO of abafado I from Sao
Paulo and 3.0 mg/kg of diaze?sm. Fifteen minutes later they were
introduced into the box and the number of punished responses was
recorded for 10 min.
One week later the group of rats which had received abafado I
were again tested, this time after being orally dosed with a dose
C,, of abafado III obtained from lemongrass of the same origin.
Results
Body temperature of rats Table 1 summarizes the results. A dose
CZo of abafado I prepared from
dried leaves of lemongrass from S&o Paulo reduced body
temperature by 1C {lines 1 and 2 of Table 1) 1 and 2 h after
administration. However, perhaps due to the small number of animals
used (6 per group) and the large standard deviations after the
drug, this difference did not reach statistical significance. A
bafado II from the same plant produced practically identical
results (see line 4 of Table 1). However, the abafudo I from Ceara
and the abafado III from Sao Paula (prepared by lyophylizing
abafado I and resuspending the residue in water) were inactive
(lines 3 and 5).
-
TA
BLE
7
EFF
EC
TS
OF
AB
AFA
DO
S I,
II, III
FRO
M
FRESH
A
ND
D
RIE
D
LEA
VES
OF
LEM
ON
GR
ASS
AN
D
OF
CIT
RA
L O
N B
OD
Y
TEM
PER
ATU
RE
OF
RA
TS
Six
anim
als
per
dose
.
Nate
rial
Sourc
e
Pre
para
tion
Dose
R
oute
Tem
pera
ture
(C
+ S
.D.)
befo
re a
nd a
fter
dru
g a
dm
inis
trati
on
Oh
lh
2h
4h
Wate
r -
-
Dri
ed leave
s Sio
Paulo
A
bafa
do
I D
ried leave
s C
eari
A
bafa
do
I D
ried leave
s Slo
Paulo
A
baf
ado
II
Dri
ed l
eave
s Sio
Paulo
A
bafa
do
III
Wate
r -
Fresh
leave
s S&
o P
aulo
D
ried leave
s SIo
Paulo
Wate
r -
Cit
ral
- C
itra
l -
Cit
ral
---
- Aba
fado
I
A b
afad
o I
- - -
8 m
l/kg
C
I: 0
C 2
* C
*o
C .o
8 m
l/kg
c
20
C
Zil
2 m
l/kg
2
00
mg/k
g
10
0 m
g/k
g
20
0 m
g/k
g
ora
l
ora
l ora
l ora
l
i.p.
i.p.
i.p.
i.p.
orat
i.p
. i.p
.
38
.1 t
0.4
4
38
.2 +
_ 0.1
9
38
.0 r
0.2
9
38
.4 t
0.3
3
37
.5 ?
r 0.2
6
37
.9 r
0.4
8
38
.2 *
0.4
7
38
.2 i
: 0
.25
38
.3 r
0.2
6
37
.7 t
0.2
9
37
.1 i
0
.24
3
7.8
* 0
.19
37
.7 t
0.2
7
36
.7 t
I.3
8
37
.9 +
0.3
8
36
.8 5
1.3
8
37
.5 t
0.2
3
37
.5 f
0.1
8
37
.2 L
0.4
8
36
.8 ?
: 0.4
2
37
.6 t
0.4
2
36
.9 r
0.7
2
37
.1 t
0.5
0
36
.2 c
0.2
6*
37
.6 f
0.1
3
37
.7 f
0.1
7
36
.6 t
1.5
0
37
.9 t
1.6
3
37
.7 ?
: 0.1
4
37
.7 t
0.2
5
36
.7 +
1.3
7
37
.3 *
0.4
2
37
.8 f
0.2
8
37
.0 f
0.2
0
37
.4 c
0.4
0
37
.7 f
0.3
6
36
.2 i
0.6
4*
38
.0 +
_ 0.2
6
35
.8 +
0.7
9*
37
.5 +
0.2
5
37
.3 +
0.1
6
37
.4 +
0.2
2
36
.9 t
0.8
3
37
.3 5
0.3
6
36
.8 r
0.7
4
37
.1 t
0.5
2
35
.4 t
0.6
0*
36
.8 +
0.4
9
*Diffe
rs
signific
antl
y fr
om
vehic
le-t
reate
d r
ats
(P G
0.0
5;
one-w
ay
analy
sis
of
vari
ance
follo
wed
by
Stu
dent
s t-
test
).
-
46
On the other hand, when doses CzO of u~u~~dos I obtained either
from fresh or dried leaves of lemongrass from Sdo Paulo were given
through intraperitoneal route, a statistically significant decrease
in temperature was obtained 2 h after the injections (lines 7 and
8).
Citral (200 mg/kg) by oral route and 100 mg/kg i.p. did not
significantly affect the temperature; only 200 mg/kg i.p. was
effective in doing so in the first 2 h after administration (last 4
lines of Table 1).
Finally, the ~~u~~do I obtained from the dried feaves of Sgo
Paulo was unable to counteract the fever induced in the rats by the
pyrogen of E. co& Thus, 1 and 2 h after orally administering a
dose C&, (or 4 h after the injec- tion of 10 mg/kg of the
pyrogen), the temperature of the rats were 38.7 + 0.48C and 38.3 +
0.2OC, respectively. These results did not differ from the values
of the control group, 38.1 + 0.37 and 38.5 f 0.35, respectively, 1
and 2 h after vehicle.
~nt~sti~a~ transit According to the first 6 lines of Table 2,
oral doses CsO and Ctoo of
abafudo I obtained from fresh or dried leaves of Iemongrass from
Sgo Paulo did not alter the intestinal activity of mice. Thus, the
charcoal meal travelled from 55% to 73% of total small intestines
whether the previous treatment had been water or any of the
abafados. However, doses CloO of the abafudos from Stjo Paulo and
CearG administered intraperitoneally (lines 7 and 8 of Table 2)
drastically reduced in~stin~ transit. Similar results were obtained
with citral. Through the oral route, 100 and 200 mgfkg did not
modify the intestinal activity (lines 9-11) although the same doses
when administered intraperitoneally, produced a clear reduction in
intestinal transit (last 4 lines of Table 2).
Open-field behavior As can be seen in the first three lines of
Table 3, oral doses CzO of abafado
I slightly reduced defecation but the difference did not reach
statistical significance. A replication of this experiment (lines 4
-7 of Table 3) again showed the same non-significant decrease in
defecation produced either by doses Czo of abafadas I and II or by
intraperitoneal injection of dose Cl0 of abafado I. One hundred
mg/kg of citral by oral route was also unable to significantly
reduce defecation in rats. However, a marked decrease was noticed
when citral was given by the intraperitoneal route.
As far as ~bulation is concerned, as seen in Table 3, none of
the above treatments was effective in modifying it. Rearing was
affected only by the i.p. injection of 100 mg/kg of citral.
Rota-rod Abafado I (first 7 lines of Table 4) from fresh leaves
from Sao Paulo and
Minas Gerais did not alter the performance of mice on the
rotating bar, when administered either by oral or i-p. routes or in
doses 50 times larger
-
TA
BL
E
2
EF
FE
CT
O
F A
BA
FA
DO
I
FR
OM
F
RE
SH
A
ND
D
RIE
D
LE
AV
ES
O
F L
EM
ON
GR
AS
S
AN
D
OF
CIT
RA
L
ON
IN
TE
ST
INA
L
TR
AN
SIT
IN
MIC
E
Ten
an
imal
s pe
r do
se.
Mat
eria
l S
ourc
e P
repa
rati
on
Min
ute
s D
ose
Rou
te
Inte
stin
al t
ran
sit?
el
apse
d be
twee
n
dru
g an
d ch
arco
al
Wat
er
- -
30
20 m
l/k
g or
al
66.8
+
18.
8 F
resh
lea
ves
Sio
P
aul0
A
bafa
do
I 30
C
50
oral
71
.0
t 14
.0
Dri
ed l
eave
s S
lo
Pau
l0
Abo
fad
o I
30
C 5
0 or
al
73.0
f
12.8
Wat
er
- F
resh
lea
ves
SIo
Pau
l0
Dri
ed l
eave
s S
&o
Pau
l0
Dri
ed l
eave
s C
earl
D
ried
lea
ves
Cea
rl
Aba
fad
o I
Aba
fad
o I
Aba
fad
o I
Aba
fad
o I
60
60
60
30
30
40 m
l/k
g C
I0
C IO
C
,O
C
I no
oral
66
.2
+ 1
2.3
oral
63
.4
* 12
.2
oral
55
.6
r 13
.2
i.p.
28.0
f-
8.
1*
i.p.
25.6
+
_ 7.
5**
Wat
er
- -
60
20 m
l/k
g or
al
66.8
f
6.8
Cit
ral
- -
60
100
mg/
kg
oral
69
.1
2 11
.2
Cit
ral
- -
60
200
mg/
kg
oral
59
.6
+ 1
9.5
Wat
er
- -
30
20 m
l/k
g i.p
. 71
.6
+ 1
9.0
Cit
ral
- -
30
25
mg/
kg
i.p.
55.8
t
23.7
C
itra
l -
- 30
10
0 m
g/k
g i.p
. 21
.3
+_
5.3*
* C
itra
l -
- 30
20
0 m
g/k
g i.p
. 18
.0
* 2.
9**
a P
erce
nt
of t
otal
len
gth
of
smal
l in
test
ine
trav
elle
d by
th
e ch
arco
al
mea
l. V
alu
es a
re m
ean
f
S.U
. *
Dif
fers
sig
nif
ican
tly
from
ve
hic
le t
reat
ed m
ice
(*P