CHRONIC Baccharis grisebachii DECOCTION REDUCES ANXIETY-LIKE BEHAVIOR IN FEMALE MICE

Baccharis grisebachii Hieron (Asteraceae) is a South American medicinal plant whose effects on the central nervous system remain largely unexplored. UHPLC–PDA–OT-MS/MS tentatively identified several compounds: 12 flavonoids, 11 cinnamic acid derivatives, one coumarin, one stilbene, and two other phenolics. We evaluated the effects of chronic B. grisebachii decoction (DecBg) consumption on anxiety-like behavior in female C57BL/6J mice. From postnatal day 21, mice received water (CON) or DecBg (10% w/v) for 50 days. Anxiety-like behavior was assessed by the open field test (OFT) and elevated plus maze (EPM) at the same estrous cycle stage. Total distance traveled did not differ between groups in either test (OFT, p=0.2578; EPM, p=0.1507), indicating no major changes in locomotor activity. In the OFT, DecBg mice traveled a greater distance (65.26%; p=0.0255) and entered more frequently (51.45%; p=0.0457) into the central zone, spent more time in the intermediate zone (55.84%; p=0.0499) and central+intermediate zones (60.44%; p=0.0133), and less time in the peripheral zone (-12.71%; p=0.0133) than CON mice. In the EPM, DecBg mice spent more time in the open arms (101.32%; p=0.0489), less time in the closed arms (-11.55%; p=0.0141), and showed increased edge exploration (p=0.0356). These findings indicate that chronic consumption of B. grisebachii decoction produces an anxiolytic-like behavioral profile without altering overall locomotor activity (PIP-0390/23; PIC-UNSJ 1576/26-R).