Anticonvulsant Activity of Hippocratea welwitschii Oliv. (Celastraceae) Root Extracts on Chicks and Swiss Mice http://www.doi.org/10.26538/tjnpr/v8i1.48

Abstract

Dried roots of Hippocratea welwitschii are a prevalent traditional medication for the management of epilepsy in the traditional ‘Ukanafum’ system of medicine in the Akwa Ibom, South Southern, Nigeria. Various extracts of the root of the plant namely: n-hexane, ethyl acetate, methanolic, aqueous and crude extracts were subjected to anticonvulsant evaluation using the maximal electroshock test (MEST) in chicks, subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (scPTZ) and strychnine induced seizures test in mice. The neurotoxic potential of the extracts was assessed using beam walking assays in mice. The n-hexane (250 mg/kg), methanol (250 mg/kg) and aqueous (125 and 250 mg/kg) extracts produced 30% protection against seizure induced by MEST. The methanol extract (250 mg/kg) and crude extract (125 mg/kg) showed 80% and 70% protection in the scPTZ test, respectively. Similarly, the aqueous extract at 125 mg/kg protected 60% of the mice against seizure induced by strychnine. In the beam walking assay test, only the methanol extract produced a significant (p < 0.05) increase in the number of foot slips and the time taken to complete the task. In conclusion the various extracts of the root of Hippocratea welwitschii demonstrated anticonvulsant activity and deserve further study on the isolation and elucidation of the anticonvulsant active compounds and possible mechanism of anticonvulsant action.