Behavioral Studies of Agarwood Smoke in Rats

Abdulmalik AbuAbah, Rabbani SI*, Sultan Sajid
Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia

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In this study the effects of agarwood smoke exposure was evaluated on the general, CNS and reproductive behaviors in male and female rats. The behavioral studies were conducted on both male and female rats by exposing the animals to the smoke of agarwood in a smoke chamber for two durations viz., 30 and 60 minutes. A fourteen-days study plan was designed where the changes in the behavior was recorded using elevated plus maze and light/dark box apparatus. The reproductive behaviors were studied using close circuit camera (CCTV) when the female rat was in estrus cycle. The data from the studies were compared with the control to analyze the influence of agarwood smoke on the behavior in the animals. The data from the study indicated that exposure of agarwood smoke decreased the aggressive, defensive and non-social activities. The CNS studies suggested that exposure of smoke for 30 minutes significantly (p<0.01) enhanced some of the parameters for anxiogenic property while 60 minutes duration significantly (p<0.001) exhibited anti-anxiety effect. The reproductive behavior indicated that shorter duration of smoke increased the mounts while longer duration did not produce any effect in experimental rats. More studies are suggested in this direction to understand the precise mechanism of action for changes in the behavioral patterns.
Keywords: Agarwood, Smoke exposure, Anxiety, Behavioral pattern, Reproductive study.