Fig. 1

Effect of Rosmarinus officinalis essential oil (ROEO) on mice immobility time in tail suspension test (TST), and serum corticosterone level. a Effect of ROEO on the immobility time of mice in tail suspension test (TST). Mice were made to inhale the EOs for 30 min daily for 2 weeks. The volume of EO for each experiment was 100 μl for almond oil (AL) and lavender EO (LAEO), and 50 or 100 μl for ROEO. During the two-week inhalation of EO, TST was performed every other day measuring the immobility time at the last 4 min of the six-min TST session. Data represent the average result of the TST performed on the last day of the experiment. Each result represents the mean ± .SD (n = 5). *P≤0.05, **P≤0.01 vs. control. b Effect of ROEO on mice serum corticosterone level. At the end of the two-week EO inhalation, mice were sacrificed and serum was collected. Serum corticosterone level was quantified using an ELISA kit (AssayMax Corticosterone ELISA Kit, AssayPro LLC, Saint Charles, MO, USA) as described in Materials and Methods. Data represent the mean of ±.SD (n = 3). *P≤0.05, **P≤0.01 vs. control