Does Drug Potentiation Reduce its Dose or Duration or Both? A Case Study of Brahmi ghrita

Diazepam a drug from benzodiazepine class is used as an anticonvulsant and for anxiolysis, sedation, and myorelaxation and is known to produce anterograde amnesia. Amnesia becomes more worrisome among the aging population, because age-related organ decline reduces the ability to metabolize and eliminate drugs, including benzodiazepines. Brahmi ghrita a lipid based formulation of two potencies is a proven anti-stress agent capable of reversing the memory loss due to depression. It was tested for its antiamnesic effect in this study. Self-prepared and standardized 1x brahmi ghrita (5.0 g/kg) and 10x brahmi ghrita (5.0, 2.5 and 1.25 g/kg) were evaluated in diazepam induced amnesia. Memory assessment was done using elevated plus maze test. One way ANOVA followed by Tukey-Kramer multiple comparisons test was used. Induction of amnesia using diazepam was confirmed. Upon comparison with diazepam control group, 1x brahmi ghrita and 10x brahmi ghrita at all three dose levels, resulted in reduced (p<0.001) transfer latency (TL) on day eight as well as day nine, 1x brahmi ghrita (5 g/kg) resulted in reduced (p<0.01) transfer latency and 10x brahmi ghrita (5, 2.5 &1.25 g/kg) also resulted in reduced (p<0.001) TL on day 16, on day 17, all the treatment groups showed reduced transfer latency (p<0.001) reflecting reversal in diazepam induced impairment of learning and memory. Both the samples of brahmi ghrita, showed reversal of diazepam induced amnesia. This unique study reports that drug potentiation results in better efficacy in a reduced dose.