Effect of valproic acid and azadirachta indica on behavioral alterations and antioxidative stress in pentylenetetrazol-induced kindling in rats

Abstract

Materials and methods Forty Sprague Dawley strain male rats were taken and divided into four groups, containing ten animals each. Group A (Vehicle): They received injections of normal saline intraperitonieally (i.p.) daily for the period of six weeks; Group B (PTZ): Pentylenetetrazol (PTZ, 40 mg/Kg) was injected to them i.p. for inducing chemical kindling on alternate days; Group C (PTZ + Valproate): Pentylenetetrazol (PTZ, 40 mg/Kg) was injected to them i.p. for inducing chemical kindling on alternate days and Valproic acid (VPA, 200 mg/Kg) was administered to them orally as an anticonvulsant daily and Group D (PTZ + Neem): Pentylenetetrazol (PTZ, 40 mg/Kg) was injected to them i.p. for inducing chemical kindling on alternate days and Azadirachta indica (Neem, 100 mg/Kg) was given to them orally also as an anticonvulsant daily. Seizure severity was measured according to a prevalidated scoring scale. Kindling score was recorded regularly after PTZ administration during the whole experiment. Mean onset time of jerks, clonus and extensor phases following PTZ challenge was noted. At the end of six weeks, all animals were sacrificed and different antioxidative enzymes activity such as Glutathione S transferase, Catalase, Glutathione Reductase and Nitric oxide were measured in brain spectrophotometrically. Lipid peroxidation activity was also measured in brain.