Abstract
Stereospermum kunthianum, Cham Sandrine Petit (Bignoniaceae) known in English as pink jacaranda is used in traditional medicine to treat an array of ailments including febrile convulsions in infants and young children by the rural dwellers in Nigeria. This study examined the anticonvulsant activity of its aqueous stem bark extract (100 - 400mg/kg) against maximal electroshock and pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures in rodents. Phenobarbitone and ethosuximide were used as reference anticonvulsant drugs for comparison. Stereospermum kunthianum extract (200 - 400mg/kg, i.p.) remarkably protected (76.9% and 84.6 % respectively) the rats against electroshock-induced seizures. However, the extract (200- 400mg/kg) when administered orally showed a comparatively less effect (33.3% and 55.6% respectively) to the intraperitoneally administered extract in the maximal electroshock test. The extract (100-400mg/kg, i.p.) significantly delayed (p<0.05) the onset of pentylenetetrazole-induced clonic seizures but only slightly prolonged the time of death of the mice. Although the findings in the present study do not provide conclusive evidence, it appears that the aqueous stem bark extract of Stereospermum kunthianum produces its antiseizure effect by enhancing GABAergic neurotransmission and/or action in the brain. The results indicate that the aqueous extract possesses anticonvulsant activity in rodents and therefore tend to suggest that the shrub may be used as a natural supplementary remedy in the management, control and/or treatment of childhood convulsions. It can be concluded that the aqueous stem bark extract possesses anticonvulsant activity and therefore lend pharmacological credence to the traditionally claimed use in the treatment of childhood convulsions.
Highlights
Seizures are alterations of behaviour due to the disordered, synchronous, and rhythmic firing of populations of brain neurons
We have recently demonstrated the antidiarrhoeal activity of the aqueous extract of Stereospermum kunthianum stem bark in in-vivo experimentally –induced diarrhoeal models using mice and rats (Ching et al, 2008)
Our findings in the experimentally-induced seizures in the animal models used indicate that Stereospermum kunthianum aqueous stem bark extract possesses significant anticonvulsant activity in rodents
Summary
Seizures are alterations of behaviour due to the disordered, synchronous, and rhythmic firing of populations of brain neurons. Generalized seizures arise diffusely from the cerebral cortex, with threshold for burst-firing altered through the cortex (Lowenstein, 2004). There are available scientific reports (Ojewole, 2008; Yemitan and Adeyemi, 2006; Ogbonnia et al, 2003; Aji et al, 2001) to support the folkloric use of some of the herbs used traditionally in the management of seizures, many of them are still without documented scientific evidence of efficacy. Stereospermum kunthianum is one of such plants. The present study was aimed at investigating the anticonvulsant activity of the aqueous stem bark extract of Stereospermum kunthianum in order to establish pharmacological evidence of its folkloric use in the management of childhood convulsions
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