Treatment with Sutherlandia frutescens ssp. microphylla alters the corticosterone response to chronic intermittent immobilization stress in rats

Date
2004
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Academy of Science of South Africa
Abstract
Much anecdotal evidence suggests a stress-relieving effect of the Sutherlandia frutescens herb. We investigated this in a model of chronic intermittent immobilization stress in 40 adult male Wistar rats. A warm water extract of Sutherlandia leaves (4 mg/ml) was used as treatment and isotonic saline as placebo, both injected intraperitoneally. The four experimental groups were: a) control + treatment (CS); b) control + placebo (CP); c) immobilization + treatment (IS) and d) immobilization + placebo (IP). After 28 days, resting blood corticosterone, testosterone, interleukin (IL)-6 and tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α concentrations were measured. Data were analysed with two-way ANOVA. Immobilization stress resulted in significantly increased corticosterone concentrations in IP vs CP (81 ± 11 vs 22 ±7 ng/ml, P < 0.001), whereas corticosterone concentrations were significantly decreased in IS (43 ± 14 ng/ml, P < 0.05) compared to IP. The two Sutherlandia-treated groups did not differ (CS 57 ± 11 ng/ml). Neither testosterone nor IL-6 and TNF-α concentrations were significantly different among groups. In summary, our data show that Sutherlandia frutescens treatment effectively decreased the corticosterone response to chronic stress, thereby scientifically confirming the indigenous wisdom.
Description
CITATION: Smith C. & Myburgh, K. H. 2004. Treatment with Sutherlandia frutescens ssp. microphylla alters the corticosterone response to chronic intermittent immobilization stress in rats. South African Journal of Science, 100(3-4):229-232.
The original publication is available at https://journals.co.za/content/sajsci
Keywords
Rattus norvegicus, Sutherlandia frutescens treatment, Rats as laboratory animals, Corticosterone response in rats
Citation
Smith C. & Myburgh, K. H. 2004. Treatment with Sutherlandia frutescens ssp. microphylla alters the corticosterone response to chronic intermittent immobilization stress in rats. South African Journal of Science, 100(3-4):229-232