Effect of Chinese herbal medicine "kanbaku-taiso-to" on neuropharmacological tests.

The "Kanbaku-taiso-to" (KT), mixture of three herbal drugs, Glycyrrhizae Radix, Tritici Semen and Zizyphi Fructus, sometimes shows a marked effect on insomnia and infantile convulsions. The ancient Chinese medical book "Kinkiyoryaku" described the effectiveness of KT on emotional irritability. To elucidate the mechanism of action of KT, neuropharmacological screening tests were performed and the following results were obtained. KT lengthened the hexobarbital sleeping time; KT showed a marked prolongation of time to death in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced convulsions; locomotor activity was inhibited by 7-day continuous administration of KT. These results suggested that KT had a sedative effect on the nervous system.