It was the aim of the study to check ethanolic and CO2 extracts from Humulus lupulus for sedating activity. Both preparations reduced the spontaneous locomotor activity, increased the ketamine-induced sleeping time and reduced body temperature, confirming a central sedating effect. No indications of anxiolytic activity were found in the elevated plus maze test for any of the test preparations.
This sedating activity could be attributed to three categories of constituents of lipophilic hops extracts. Though the α-bitter acids proved to the be most active constituents, the β-bitter acids and the hop oil clearly contributed to the sedating activity of lipophilic Humulus extracts.
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