Valerian (herb) mild nervous tension and to aid sleep; EMA stated that although there is insufficient evidence from clinical studies, its effectiveness as a dried extract is considered plausible. In the United States, valerian extracts are sold as a nutritional supplement under the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act of 1994. Oral forms are available in both standardized and unstandardized forms. Standardized products may be preferable considering the wide variation of the chemicals in the dried root, as noted above. When standardized, it is done so as a percentage of valerenic acid or valeric acid. Because the compounds in valerian produce central
Valerenic acid Valerenic acid Valerenic acid is a sesquiterpenoid constituent of the essential oil of the Valerian plant. Valerian is used as a herbal sedative which may be helpful in the treatment of insomnia. It is likely that several components of the plant contribute to the effect. Valerenic acid is thought to be at least partly responsible for the sedative effects. Valerenic acid acts as a subtype-selective GABA receptor positive allosteric modulator via a binding site in the transmembrane domain at the βα interface. At receptors expressed in Xenopus oocytes (frog eggs) it was shown that only assemblies incorporating β2 or β3