Sedative activity of ethanolic and aqueous extracts of Euphorbia hirta

Insomnia is persistent difficulty in falling asleep that affects regular day time activities. It can induce significant psychological and physical disorder. Insomnia is treated pharmacologically and nonpharmacologically or by a combination of both. Relaxation, sleep restriction, stimulus control and sleep hygiene are known behavioural therapies for insomnia. Modern studies have shown that herbal drugs exert good sedative and hypnotic effect on the central nervous system. One such medicinal plants is Euphorbia hirta.. E. hirta belongs to the plant family Euphorbiaceae and genus Euphorbia. The leaf of Euphorbia hirta have several therapeutic applications in folk medicine in curing or managing wide range of diseases including insomnia. In the present study ethanol and aqueous extract of leaf Euphorbia hirta was evaluated for sedative activity using phenobarbiton–induced sleep model in rat. Aqueous and ethanolic extracts (100mg/kg and 200 mg/kg) produced significant onset of sleep and duration of sleep (p<0.01). These results suggest that the fractions of aqueous and ethanolic extracts obtained from the leaf of Euphorbia hirta possess sedative activity