The antiepileptic activity of Vitex agnus castus extract on amygdala kindled seizures in male rats.
June 27th, 2008 | by admin |The antiepileptic activity of Vitex agnus castus extract on amygdala kindled seizures in male rats.
The antiepileptic activity of hydrophilic extract of Vitex agnus castus fruit (Vitex) was evaluated by the kindling model of epilepsy. Intact male rats (250-300g) were stereotaxically implanted with a tripolar and two monopolar electrodes in amygdala and dura, respectively. The afterdischarge (AD) threshold was determined in each animal and stimulated daily until fully kindled. The animals were administered different doses (60, 120 or 180mg/kg) of Vitex or 0.1ml of hydro alcoholic solvent intra-peritoneally (i.p.) and kindling parameters including AD threshold, seizure stages (SS), afterdischarge duration (ADD), stage 4 latency (S4L) and stage 5 duration (S5D) were recorded 30min post-injection. The obtained data showed that even low dose (60mg/kg) of Vitex could significantly increase the AD threshold and decrease the ADD and S5D (P<0.05). These changes were more significant with higher doses (120 or 180mg/kg) for ADD (P<0.01) and S5D (P<0.001). Vitex at the dose of 120mg/kg, induced significant increment in S4L (P<0.05). This effect was more prominent at the dose of 180mg/kg (P<0.001). The latter dose could significantly reduce seizure stage (P<0.01) and most of the animals did not show S5. These results indicate that Vitex can reduce or prevent epileptic activity as demonstrated by reduction of ADD and S5D (length of convulsion) in a dose dependent manner. In conclusion, Vitex at appropriate dose can probably reduce or control epileptic activities.
Saberi M, Rezvanizadeh A, Bakhtiarian A.
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Chemical Injuries Research Center, Faculty of Medicine, Baqiyatallah University of Medical Sciences, P.O. Box 19568, Tehran, Iran; Neurosciences Research Center, Shaheed Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.