Preclinical Evaluation of Anxiolytic Agents: An Overview

Abstract

Anxiety disorder is a psychological disorder and associated with stress, tension, fear and threat about future. The pathophysiology of anxiety disorder is not fully understood and hence improper diagnosis leads to increase morbidity and mortality rates. The drugs used for the treatment of anxiety having certain limitation in their use because of their side effects such as sedation, drug dependence, habituation, central complexity and drug withdrawal symptoms. Hence the interest in searching alternative remedies for treatment of anxiety is greatly increased. The interest in area of modification of a drug increases so as to reduce side effects of the drug. Another interesting area is the natural source to find out medicinal plant having anxiolytic activity.