Aqueous and Ethanolic Valeriana officinalis Extracts Change the Binding of Ligands to Glutamate Receptors

Figure 1

Effects of different fresh Valerian extracts (1 mg/mL) on [³H]Glutamate binding to rat synaptic membranes in the presence of 1 mM glutamate receptor (GluR) ligands. (a) The aqueous extract decreases the effects of the NMDA (MK-801), AMPA, and Kainate (KA), but it did not alter the effects of quisqualic acid (QA), a group I metabotropic glutamate receptor (mGluR) ligand. (b) The hydroalcoholic extract also decreases the effects of NMDA, AMPA, and KA. In contrast, Valerian reverses the inhibitory effects of QA. ⁺agonist versus agonist + Valerian, 𝑃<.05; ⁺⁺𝑃<.01; ⁺⁺⁺𝑃<.001.

(a)

(b)