lignans and Epilepsy

With the aim to discover interesting lead compounds that could be further developed into compounds active against pharmacoresistant epilepsies, we first collected 14 medicinal plants used in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) against epilepsy. Of the six extracts that tested positive in a pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) behavioral zebrafish model, only the ethanol and acetone extracts from

Topics: Animals; Anticonvulsants; Biphenyl Compounds; Epilepsy; Lignans; Magnolia; Medicine, Chinese Traditional; Mice; Plant Extracts; Zebrafish

This paper was designed to investigate anticonvulsant and sedative effects of eudesmin isolated from Acorus tatarinowii. The eudesmin (5, 10, and 20 mg/kg) was administered intraperitoneally (i.p.). The maximal electroshock test (MES) and pentylenetertrazole (PTZ)-induced seizures in male mice were used to evaluate anticonvulsant activities of eudesmin, and sedative effects of eudesmin were evaluated by pentobarbital sodium-induced sleeping time (PST) and locomotor activity in mice. Finally, the mechanisms of eudesmin were investigated by determining contents of glutamic acid (Glu) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in epileptic mice, and expressions of glutamate decarboxylase 65 (GAD65), GABAA , Bcl-2, and caspase-3 in the brain of chronic epileptic rats. Results of MES and PTZ tests revealed that eudesmin possesses significant anticonvulsant effects, and the PST and locomotor activity tests demonstrated that eudesmin has significant sedative effects. Furthermore, our study revealed that after treatment with eudesmin, GABA contents increased, whereas Glu contents decreased, and ratio of Glu/GABA decreased. Our results also indicated that expressions of GAD65, GABAA, and Bcl-2 were up-regulated by treating with eudesmin, whereas the caspase-3 obviously was down-regulated. In conclusion, eudesmin has significant anticonvulsant and sedative effects, and the mechanism of eudesmin may be related to up-regulation of GABAA and GAD65 expressions, and anti-apoptosis of neuron the in brain.

Topics: Acorus; Animals; Anticonvulsants; Brain; Caspase 3; Disease Models, Animal; Electroshock; Epilepsy; Furans; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid; Glutamate Decarboxylase; Glutamic Acid; Hypnotics and Sedatives; Lignans; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred ICR; Motor Activity; Pentobarbital; Plant Extracts; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-bcl-2; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Receptors, GABA-A; Seizures