Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Potential anticonvulsant activity of ethanol extracts of Cichorium intybus and Taraxacum serotinum in rats

Rehab F Abdel-Rahman¹, Gamal A Solomon^2,3 , Hasan S Yusufoglu⁴, Irem Tatli-Çankaya⁵, Saleh I Alqasoumi⁶, Serap Arabci Anul⁵, Galip Akaydin⁷

¹Department of Pharmacology, National Research Centre, Cairo, Egypt; ²Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy; Salman bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia; ³Department of Pharmacology, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cairo University, Egypt; ⁴Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, Salman bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj, Saudi Arabia; ⁵Department of Pharmaceutical Botany, College of Pharmacy, Hacettepe University, Sihhiye, Ankara, Turkey; ⁶Department of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, King Saud University, Riyadh Saudi Arabia; ⁷Department of Biology Education, College of Education, Hacettepe University, Beytepe, Ankara, Turkey.

For correspondence:- Gamal Solomon Email: drgamal59@hotmail.com Tel:+966115886030

Received: 22 May 2015 Accepted: 19 August 2014 Published: 31 October 2015

Citation: Abdel-Rahman RF, Solomon GA, Yusufoglu HS, Tatli-Çankaya I, Alqasoumi SI, Anul SA, et al. Potential anticonvulsant activity of ethanol extracts of Cichorium intybus and Taraxacum serotinum in rats. Trop J Pharm Res 2015; 14(10):1829-1835 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v14i10.13

© 2015 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the acticonvulsant activity of Cichorium intybus (C. intybus) and Taraxacum serotinum (T. serotinum) in maximal electroshock (MES), as well as pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)- and strychnine nitrate (STN) - induced seizure models in rats.

Methods: For each model, 8 groups of Swiss albino rats (n=10) were used. The 1st group was kept as control, 2nd as standard (diazepam, 7.5 mg/kg); 3rd - 5th were treated with C. intybus ethanol extract (125, 250 and 500 mg/kg); and 6th - 8th treated with T. serotinum extract (125, 250 and 500 mg/kg). After 30 min of administration, the rats were exposed to a shock of 150 mA by a convulsiometer, via ear electrodes for 2 s (in MES test) or sc injection of PTZ (85 mg/kg) or STN (2.5 mg/kg). Anticonvulsant activity was confirmed by abolition of hind limb tonic extension (HLTE) in MES test and by measuring the latency to PTZ or STN-induced threshold seizures, and the duration of seizures in the rats.

Results: In MES model, 500 mg/kg of C. intybus and T. serotinum resulted in complete abolition of HLTE in 70 and 50 % of the rats, respectively, compared to 80 % in diazepam-medicated animals. Both extracts at 500 mg/kg prolonged latency to seizure onset in PTZ model to 144.7 and 114.7 s, respectively (vs 55.2 s in control group; p < 0.05). Both extracts failed to protect rats against STN-induced seizures.

Conclusion: C. intybus and T. serotinum possess anticonvulsant effect as they both abolish HLTE induced by MES and delay the latency of seizures produced by PTZ.

Keywords: Cichorium intybus, Taraxacum serotinum, Anticonvulsant, Seizures, Maximal electroshock, Pentylenetetrazole, Strychnine nitrate