Lepidium sativum Linn. has been used in traditional and folklore medicine for the treatment of bronchial asthma, diabetes, local and rheumatic pain. The present study deals with the investigation of the neurobehavioral effects of the total alkaloid from seeds of Lepidium sativum [LSAF].The effect of LSAF on general pharmacology, thiopental induced hypnosis, locomotor activity, motor coordination, antianxiety and analgesic effect were studied. The animals were intraperitonealy treated with 50, 150 and 250 mg/kg LSAF to the respective treatment groups. The results revealed that LSAF considerably potentiated the thiopental induced hypnosis, decreased locomotor activity and motor coordination, and increased preference to plus maze open arm. LSAF also increase the reaction time in caudal immersion and decrease in number of wriths in acetic acid induced writhing. It has been concluded that LSAF exhibited sedative, anxiolytic, myorelaxant and analgesic activity.
