Neurobehavioural Analysis of Insomnia-Induced Wistar Rat administered orally with Aqueous Extract of Rauwolfia vomitoria Afzel

Person with insomnia have symptoms such as difficulty falling asleep, waking up often during the night and having trouble going back to sleep, waking up too early in the morning, feeling tired upon waking. The aim of this research was to investigate wistar rats' neurobehavioural activities that have been deprived of sleep and given aqueous leaf extract of Rauwolfia vomitoria Afzel. Thirty (30) adult female wistar rats of weights between 100 - 240g were randomly selected and used for this study. The animals were kept in wooden cages and sawdust served as animal bedding, they were fed with grower mash manufactured by Grand Cereals Nigeria Limited and tap water ad libitum. The animals were randomly distributed into six (6) groups of five (5) animals each. The groups were labeled Group 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 respectively. The animals' sleep pattern was distorted by exposure to bright light at night for three (3) consecutive days to induce insomnia. Neurobehavioural test was conducted using Elevated Plus Maze (EPM). Scoring was made possible by the use of an Automated tracking and scoring software (Noldus Ethovision video tracking, Hamilton-Kinder infrared photo beam tracking) and this was done in a noise and human traffic free area/zone. Data from state of anxiety using grooming time and rearing time were taken and analysed. The result indicated that the group induced with insomnia only, experienced the highest state of anxiety. The other groups that were given the extract (at high dose and low dose) after light exposure had a reduced state of anxiety as indicated by the bar chart from EPM scores. The extract shows greater potential in the reversal of sleep distortion in albino wistar rat.

Key Words: Neurobehaviour, Rauwolfia vomitoria, Elevated Plus Maze