Effects of Anacyclus pyrethrum on affective behaviors and memory during withdrawal from cigarette smoke exposure in rats

Background: During smoking cessation, nicotine withdrawal is associated with many symptoms including cognitive impairment and depressed mood, which lower the desire to quit smoking and predicts smoking relapse. Thus, pharmacotherapies that improve cognitive functions during nicotine withdrawal would be paramount in developing efficacious smoking cessation agents. Medicinal plants are currently considered as a promising source to identify new therapeutics. The roots of Anacyclus pyrethrum are used in traditional medicine to treat various diseases. Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the behavioral effects of ethanolic extract of A. pyrethrum (EEAP) on smoking withdrawal in a rat model. Subjects and Methods: EEAP was administered orally at a dose of 200, 400, and 800 mg/kg. Forced swimming test (FST), open-field, marble-burying, and plus-maze tests were used to measure the level of depression and anxiety in animals. In addition, the novel object recognition test was used to test memory impairment. Results: The results showed that EEAP-treated animals had decreased immobility time in forced swimming test and they buried fewer marbles. The percentage of the time spent and the number of entries in the open arm within the elevated plus-maze test was increased in smoking withdrawn rat after treatment. On the other hand, EEAP increased the recognition of memory in the novel object recognition task. Conclusion: Taken together, our data indicated potential antidepressant-like and anxiolytic-like effects of EEAP in rats and the improvement of memory. Besides, this plant does not have any acute or subchronic toxicity effect.