Title:Potential Mechanisms Involved in the Anticonvulsant Effect of Methanol Extract of Pyrenancantha staudtii in Mice
Volume: 20
Issue: 2
Author(s): Olayemi K. Wakeel*, Oluropo B. Awosan, Oyetunji T. Kolawole, Akeem A. Ayankunle, Olukunle J. Onaolapo and Oluwaseyi A. Adeyeba
Affiliation:
- Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Health Sciences Osogbo, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Ogbomoso,Nigeria
Keywords:
Pyrenancantha staudtii, picrotoxin, isoniazid, cyproheptadine, hexobarbitone, strychnine.
Abstract:
Objective: To determine the potential effect of Pyrenancantha staudtii extract on
experimentally induced seizures in mice and to evaluate the role of benzodiazepines, naloxone,
and serotonin within these pathways.
Methods: Animal behaviours were evaluated using open field, hexobarbitone-induced sleep
model, and anticonvulsant activity using picrotoxin-, or strychnine-, or isoniazid-induced convulsions.
Attempt to understand the mode of action of the anticonvulsant activity of the plant,
three notable antagonists (flumazenil, 3 mg/kg; naloxone 5 mg/kg, i.p., and cyproheptadine,
4 mg/kg, i.p) were used.
Results: The results revealed a significant (p < 0.05) reduction in the frequency of rearing and
grooming episodes compared with the control. The extract of P. staudtii potentiates the sleeping
time of hexobarbitone-induced hypnosis in a dose-related manner. P. staudtii stem bark extracts
significantly (p<0.05) prolonged the onset of a seizure and attenuated the duration of seizure in
a dose-dependent manner in picrotoxin- and or isoniazid-induced seizures. While, P. staudtii
stem bark extract at all doses (100, 200, and 400 mg kg-1) though significantly prolonged the
onset of action, but did not confer any significant changes on the duration, as well as mortality
in this strychnine-induced seizure model. However, the anticonvulsant activity of the methanolic
extract of P. staudtii was significantly reversed following intraperitoneal pre-treatment with
flumazenil (GABA receptor antagonist) and naloxone (opioid receptor antagonist) but not cyproheptadine
(5-HT2 receptor antagonist) in picrotoxin-induced convulsion.
Conclusion: The data obtained suggest that methanol extract of P. staudtii possessed significant
anticonvulsant effect, thereby confirming the traditional uses of P. staudtii in the treatment
of epilepsy; mechanisms of which could involve the interaction with GABAergic and or
opioidergic system.
