Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Basic Medical Sciences, College of Medicine, University of Lagos , Lagos, Nigeria .
J Med Food. 2013 Sep;16(9):810-6. doi: 10.1089/jmf.2012.0211.
Telfairia occidentalis (Cucurbitaceae) is a leafy vegetable used in soup and folk medicine in southern Nigeria. Ethnobotanical survey revealed that preparations of the plant are used in the treatment of central nervous system-related disorders including convulsion. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the hydroethanolic leaf extract of T. occidentalis in mouse models of convulsion, muscle relaxation, and depression. The strychnine and isoniazid convulsion, traction and climbing muscle relaxation, and forced swim and tail suspension depression tests were used in this study. The extract was administered orally (p.o.) at dose range of 25-800 mg/kg while distilled water (10 mL/kg p.o.) served as negative control. Diazepam (5 mg/kg p.o.) was used as positive control in the convulsion and muscle relaxation models while imipramine (64 mg/kg p.o.) served the same purpose in the depression tests. T. occidentalis significantly increased the onset (P<.001) and reduced the duration of convulsion (P<.05, .01) in the strychnine test and increased the time to death (P<.05, .01, .001) in the isoniazid model. The extract insignificantly increased the reaction time in the traction test while it significantly increased the time in the climbing test (P<.001). In the forced swim and tail suspension models, T. occidentalis significantly (P<.001) and dose-dependently increased the duration of immobility. The results obtained in this study suggest that the hydroethanolic leaf extract of T. occidentalis possesses anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant properties, thus justifying its folkloric use.
西非棱果藤（葫芦科）是一种绿叶蔬菜，在尼日利亚南部用于汤和民间医学。民族植物学调查显示，该植物制剂用于治疗包括癫痫在内的中枢神经系统相关疾病。本研究旨在研究西非棱果藤水醇提叶提取物在癫痫、肌肉松弛和抑郁小鼠模型中的作用。本研究使用了士的宁和异烟肼癫痫、牵引和爬行动物肌肉松弛以及强迫游泳和悬尾抑郁测试。提取物以 25-800mg/kg 的剂量范围口服给药，而蒸馏水（10ml/kg，p.o.）作为阴性对照。地西泮（5mg/kg，p.o.）在癫痫和肌肉松弛模型中用作阳性对照，而丙咪嗪（64mg/kg，p.o.）在抑郁测试中用作相同目的的阳性对照。西非棱果藤显著增加了士的宁试验中的发作（P<.001）和减少了癫痫持续时间（P<.05，P<.01），并增加了异烟肼模型中的死亡时间（P<.05，P<.01，P<.001）。提取物对牵引试验中的反应时间无显著影响，而对爬行动物试验中的时间有显著影响（P<.001）。在强迫游泳和悬尾模型中，西非棱果藤提取物显著（P<.001）和剂量依赖性地增加了不动时间。本研究结果表明，西非棱果藤水醇提叶提取物具有抗惊厥和肌肉松弛作用，这也证明了其民间用途。
