Season dependent anticovulsant effect of juice, aqueous and methanol extract of the leaves of Ocimum lamiifolium (Lamiaceae) in Wistar rats
Adeline Wuyt Kaptue; Gwladys Temkou Ngoupaye; Télesphore Benoit Nguelefack
CaHReF 2016, Yaoundé Conges hall, 23 – 26 August 2016 , PP23
Introduction: Ocimum lamiifolium is a medicinal plant commonly used in African traditional medicine to treat epilepsy and many other diseases. The present study evaluates the season dependent anticonvulsant effect of juice and extracts from the leaves of Ocimun lamiifolium in rats. Juice was extracted from fresh leaves harvested at the dry and raining seasons while aqueous and methanol extracts were prepared from dry leaves harvested at the dry season. In vivo rat model of pentylenetetrazol (70 mg/kg, i.p), picrotoxin (7.5 mg/kg, i.p) and strychnine (2.5 mg/kg, i.p) induced convulsions were used to evaluate the anticonvulsant activities of the plant extracts.
Results: Diazepam used as reference drug showed 100% protection at doses of 6mg/kg, 12mg/kg and 18mg/kg against pentylenetetrazol, picrotoxin and strychnine induced convulsions respectively. The fresh extract harvest in dry season protected rat in a dose response manner against pentylenetetrazol induced convulsion with an ED50 of 12.5mg/kg. The aqueous extract of O. lamiifolium protected 12.5% and 75% of rat against pentylenetetrazol and strychnine induced convulsions respectively. The methanolic extract of O. lamiifolium protected 12.5% and 62.5% of rat against pentylenetetrazol and strychnine induced convulsions respectively. Only the methanolic extract of O. lamiifolium protected 12.5% of rat against picrotoxin induced convulsions. All extracts of O. lamiifolium significantly reduced the seizure duration. Aqueous and methanolic extract of O. lamiifolium significantly reduced the seizure latency only in strychnine induced convulsion. These results suggest that O. lamiifolium extracts possess bioactive compounds, more concentrated in dry season juice, that might show efficacy against secondarily generalized tonico-clonic and primary generalized seizures in humans.
Ocimum lamiifolium, Traditional medicine, Epilepsy, Anticonvulsivant activity.