Protective effects of sanjoinine A against N-methyl-D-aspartate-induced seizure.

Sanjoinine A is a component of the alkaloid fraction of Zizyphi Spinosi Semen. This experiment was performed to investigate whether sanjoinine A acts as an anticonvulsive in the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced experimental seizure model. We also examined whether it protects against seizure-form electroencephalogram (EEG) alterations induced by NMDA in vivo and/or cell killing due to NMDA in cultured cerebellar granule cells. Administration of sanjoinine A increased the survival rate and the latency of seizure onset, and decreased the seizure scores and the weight-loss induced by NMDA in mice, in a dose-dependent manner. In addition, sanjoinine A blocked seizure-form EEG alterations induced by NMDA and inhibited NMDA-induced cell killing in cultured rat cerebellar granule cells, measured by both the trypan blue exclusion test and the 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. Moreover, sanjoinine A inhibited the elevation of intracellular calcium influx induced by NMDA, which was measured using a fluorescent dye, Furo 3-AM. It is suggested that sanjoinine A protects against NMDA-induced seizures by inhibiting intracellular calcium influx.