Valerian is a sedative and sleep-promoting agent that is used as a substitute for stronger synthetic sedatives in the treatment of nervous states and anxiety-induced sleep disturbances.
In research on Parkinson’s disease, as one of the most important neurodegenerative worldwide disorders, the potential cytoprotective effects of aqueous extract of Valeriana officinalis on rotenone-induced apoptosis in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells were demonstrated. They found significant changes in the cellular morphology and condensation of the cell body when cells were treated with 300 nM rotenone for 48 h. The three different concentrations of Valeriana officinalis extract (0.049, 0.098 and 0.195 mg/mL) brought about an increase of 7.0 +/- 1.3%, 14.5 +/- 1.3% and 14.5 +/- 3.2% in cell viability. Results indicated that neuroprotector action of the Valeriana officinalis extract may present this drug for the development of cytoprotective various therapies in Parkinson’s disease.
