Sedative and
Anticonvulsant Activities of the Ethanol Root Extract of
Flemingia chappar Benth
Kavita Gahlot1, 2*,
Mohd Abid1, VK Lal1 and S Jha2
1Department of
Pharmacognosy and Phytochemistry, College of Pharmacy,
IFTM, Moradabad-244 001, U.P., 2Department of
Pharmaceutical Sciences, Birla Institute of Technology,
Mesra-835 215, Ranchi, Jharkhand, India.
*For correspondence:
E-mail:
Kavita_pharma@yahoo.co.in Tel: (91)09456099848
Received: 31 March
2012
Revised accepted:
11 January 2013
Tropical
Journal of Pharmaceutical Research, April 2013;
12(2): 203-208
http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/tjpr.v12i2.11
Abstract
Purpose: To investigate the sedative, hypnotic and
anticonvulsant activities of the ethanol extract of the
roots of the Flemingia chappar (ERFC) on the central
nervous system (CNS) of mice.
Methods: The ethanol extract of the roots of F. chappar in
doses of 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg, p.o., was studied in
mice for its sedative effect by evaluating its locomotor
activity; its hypnotic effect was assessed by measuring
pentobarbital–induced sleeping time, while
anticonvulsant effect was determined by evaluating its
activity on maximal electroshock–induced and
pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures. The latency of
tonic convulsions and number of animals protected from
tonic convulsions were noted.
Results: ERFC (200 - 600 mg/kg) significantly (p < 0.05)
decreased locomotor activity. ERFC also produced
dose-dependent prolongation of pentobarbitone sleeping
time. In addition, ERFC (400 and 600 mg/kg)
significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the duration of seizure
induced by maximal electroshock (MES), The same dose
also protected from pentylenetetrazol-induced tonic
seizures and significantly (p < 0.05) delayed the onset
of tonic seizures.
Conclusion: The results indicate that the ethanol root extract
of F. chappar has sedative and anticonvulsant
activities, thus justifying its use in traditional
medicine for epilepsy
Keywords:
Flemingia chappar, Anticonvulsant activity,
Pentylenetetrazole , Electroshock seizure, CNS
depressant.
