Bassam A Alahmadi¹, Amin A Seleem^{1, 2} , Fakhr El-Din M Lashein², Amira H Badr^{2, 3}, Abeer A Ahmed²

¹Biology Department, Faculty of Science, Taibah University, Saudi Arabia; ²Zoology Department, Faculty of Science, Sohag University, Egypt; ³Basic Sciences Department, Faculty of Physical Therapy, Merit University (MUE), Sohag, Egypt.

For correspondence:-  Amin Seleem   Email: amin_seleem@science.sohag.edu.eg   Tel:0966-542733802

Received: 9 May 2025        Accepted: 20 October 2025        Published: 31 October 2025

Citation: Alahmadi BA, Seleem AA, Lashein FM, Badr AH, Ahmed AA. Effect of melittin against the pilocarpine model of epilepsy in newborn mice. Trop J Pharm Res 2025; 24(10):1243-1252 doi: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v24i10.4

© 2025 The authors.
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Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate the effect of melittin against pilocarpine-induced epilepsy in neonatal mice. Methods: Twenty pups were divided into four groups; G1 (control) received normal saline, G2 was intraperitoneally injected with pilocarpine hydrochloride (400 mg/kg body weight) postnatally at day 1 and 7 after birth (P1 and P7), G3 was injected subcutaneously with melittin (0.5 μg/1g) twice a week, and G4 was first injected with pilocarpine at P1 and P7, and then with melittin (0.5 μg/1g). After two weeks of treatment, the neonates were anesthetized, anatomized, and the brains were prepared for general histology and immunohistochemical stains of glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP), alpha-synuclein and beta-amyloid. Results: Histological studies of brains showed vacuolation, pale, faint cytoplasm and shrinking of pyramidal cells in the pilocarpine-treated group (G2) in comparison with control group (G1). The cerebral cortex region showed nuclear pyknosis and acidophilic cytoplasm. Dark-stained nuclei of the Purkinje cell layer and eosinophilic cytoplasm were detected in the pilocarpine-treated group in the cerebellum region, in contrast to control group. Furthermore, expression of GFAP and alpha-synuclein in the hippocampus region was inhibited in the pilocarpine-treated group (G2) in comparison with control group. Also, a significant increase in beta-amyloid expression in the cerebellum region was noted in the pilocarpine-treated group (G2) compared with control group (G1). In addition, melittin-treated group (G3) showed similarity with control group. A significant improvement in the previous histopathological markers in pilocarpine-treated group (G2) was noted after treatment with melittin in G4 group. Conclusion: Melittin may offer a novel therapeutic approach for treating pilocarpine hydrochloride-induced status epilepticus.

Keywords: Alpha-synuclein, Beta-amyloid, Epilepsy, Glial fibrillary acidic protein, Melittin, Pilocarpine

Impact Factor
Thompson Reuters (ISI): 0.6 (2023)
H-5 index (Google Scholar): 49 (2023)