The substantiation of the composition and pharmaco-technological studies of the herbal medicine for the complex therapy of post-traumatic stress disorder

Abstract

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental condition that can develop after experiencing or being present
at a traumatic event (war, natural disasters, violence, accidents or other stressful situations). Over the past two years,
the number of patients with this diagnosis in the electronic healthcare system has significantly increased. Therefore, it
is urgent to create safe, including for long-term use, medications to help patients with PTSD.
Aim. To study the potential of the plant raw material for the development of herbal medicines intended for the
treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as to develop the composition of a new original medicinal product
of natural origin.
Materials and methods. The study object was the raw material of Gaillardia pulchella L. Herba, Ocīmum basilīicum,
L Herba, Hyperіcum perforatum L. Herba, Chamomilla recutita L. flos, Melissa officinalis L. Herba, Ginkgo biloba L. Folia.
NEWS OF PHARMACY 1 (109) 2025 ISSN 2415-8844 (Online) 41
The pharmaco-technological indicators were studied according to the standard methods of the State Pharmacopeia
of Ukraine (SPhU).
Results. The main place in the phytotherapy of PTSD is given to plant components that have various complexes
of biologically active substances (BAS), which exhibit antidepressant, anxiolytic, nootropic, angioprotective, antispasmodic, metabolic, venotonic effects. The combination of selected types of the raw material creates favorable conditions for the manifestation of the pharmacological activity of the drug due to the fact that its components affect different
parts of the body, enhancing the expected therapeutic effect. Such a multifaceted effect of the components of the
herbal medicine not only improves its therapeutic effectiveness, but also minimizes the risk of side effects. The study
of pharmaco-technological indicators allows us to find out that the values of loss on drying for the samples of the medicinal plant raw material (MPRM) studied are in the range from (5.11 ± 0.20) to (7.24 ± 0.20) %, which corresponds to
the current standards of the SPhU for plant materials. The specific gravity values vary in the range from (1.380 ± 0.021)
to (1.580 ± 0.022) g/cm³, which indicates a decrease in the probability of stratification of the raw material in herbal
medicine compositions during mixing of ingredients. The bulk density parameters for the components of the herbal
medicine ranges from (0.476 ± 0.012) to (0.724 ± 0.020) g/cm³, which indicates the presence of significant differences
in this indicator for different samples of the MPRM. In addition, the bulk density indicators of the raw material in the
herbal medicine developed changed almost twice – from (0.114 ± 0.007) to (0.231 ± 0.002) g/cm³. This difference was
taken into account when developing the technological process for the production of the herbal medicine in order to
ensure uniform distribution of components in the finished product.
Conclusions. Modern scientific data on the spread of PTSD, as well as on the pharmacological properties, chemical composition and botanical characteristics of the MPRM and the herbal medicine have been analyzed and systematized. A theoretical and experimental substantiation of the composition of the herbal medicine for the complex therapy
of PTSD has been developed. The influence of various pharmaco-technological characteristics of the MPRM and the
herbal medicine on their quality has been studied. The combined herbal medicine proposed, the components of which
mutually enhance and complement their pharmacological properties during the complex treatment of PTSD will not
only increase the effectiveness of pharmacotherapy, but also reduce the risk of side effects associated with the use of
synthetic drugs. It should be noted that the research of the drug being created is still ongoing. In the future, it is planned
to study in detail the composition of BAS, develop methods for their analysis, study the effect of these substances on
the pharmacological action, as well as expand the range of dosage forms for this product.