Effects of Matricaria Chamomilla extract on morphine withdrawal syndrome in mice

Abstract Background: Matricaria chamomilla (MC) contains flavonoids, which exert benzodiazepine-like activity and so it may be helpful in morphine withdrawal syndrome (MWS) treatment. Objective: To determine the effects of MC extract on morphine withdrawal syndrome signs in adult male mice. Methods: This was an experimental study carried out in two steps at the department of physiology, Qazvin School of medicine (Iran), in 2005. Step 1: 3 adult male mice (n=6) were originally divided into 2 groups marked as saline (control) & morphine (case) groups. The morphine group were injected by increasing doses of morphine (10, 20, 40 mg/kg, s.c), 3 times daily, for a total duration of 4 days and were further divided into 4 subgroups as morphine group and 3 MC extract groups receiving one dose of MC extract (10, 20 or 30 mg/kg I.P) at day 4, 30 min before naloxone injection. At the end of training day (4th days) all groups were injected by naloxone (5mg/kg I.P) and MWS was studied for 30 minutes. Step 2: another 30 adult male mice (n=6) were injected by saline , morphine and MC extracts as above except for morphine and naloxane which were injected as one single dose (50 mg/kg). Naloxone was injected 3hr after the last injection of morphine and the frequencies of withdrawal behaviors (jumping, climbing) were assessed later. Findings: The results of the present study showed that the acute and chronic administration of MC at doses used in our experiment significantly abolished the morphine withdrawal syndrome signs (jumping, climbing, writhing, weight loss) compared with morphine group. Conclusion: Our data suggest that the MC can attenuate the expression of withdrawal behaviors in male mice.