Volatile oil of Artemisia santolina decreased morphine withdrawal jumping in mice

INTRODUCTION: Flowered aerial parts of Artemisia santolina Schrenk (Asteraceae), which is found in the central and western regions of Iran were collected from Khorasan province and the volatile oil extracted by hydro distillation. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The oil (0.5% v/w) was analyzed by GC and GC/MS using DB-5 column. The effect of this oil on the withdrawal syndrome was determined in mice. After induction of dependency by morphine, mice were intraperitoneally administered different concentrations of the oil. Morphine-withdrawal inducing by naloxone was assessed by recording the incidence of escape jumps for 60 min. RESULTS: The results indicated that a significant difference between the essential oil received group (at dose of 3.6 mg/kg) and control group was shown but the lower doses were not effective. Essential oil analysis showed that there were forty-six components, representing 95.4% of the oil. CONCLUSION: The oil of A. santolina which is rich in oxygenated monoterpenes with the major components, trans-verbenol (34.6%) and p-mentha3-en-8-ol (13.1%), can decreased the number of withdrawal jumping in addicted mice.