Rashidian Amir, Farhang Forogh, Vahedi Habib, Dehpour Ahmad Reza, Ejtemai Mehr Shahram, Mehrzadi Saeed, Rezayat Seyed Mahdi
Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Pharmaceutical Sciences Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran.
Int J Prev Med. 2016 Jul 29;7:97. doi: 10.4103/2008-7802.187251. eCollection 2016.
Lippia citriodora Kunth is one of the Iranian traditional medicines for the treatment of convulsive disorders. The goal of this study is to investigate the anticonvulsant activity of the plant's leave ethanolic extract against electro- and chemoconvulsant-induced seizures in mice.
The anticonvulsant activity of the extract (200, 400, 800 mg/kg, per os, p.o.) was investigated in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) and maximal electroshock (MES)-induced seizures in mice. Diazepam (1 mg/kg) and phenytoin (25 mg/kg) intraperitoneally (i.p.) were used as reference drugs. In addition, for investigating the role of GABAergic system, flumazenil (2 mg/kg, i.p.) was also injected before L. citriodora.
The extract had not any toxicity and significantly decreased the duration and increased the latency of the seizures induced by PTZ (90 mg/kg). In the MES test, L. citriodora displayed statistically significant reduction in hind limb tonic extension duration in a nondose-dependent manner. Flumazenil reversed the anticonvulsant activity of the plant's extract in the PTZ model.
The results propose that L. citriodora leave ethanolic extract has anticonvulsant activity against convulsive disorders. It seems that this plant's extract generates its antiseizure effect through GABAergic system potentiation. Further studies will be needed in order to investigate the exact mechanisms of it. Moreover, one may conclude that the present results are in accordance with the positive effect of L. citriodora extract to treat convulsion mentioned in old Iranian literature.
柠檬马鞭草是伊朗用于治疗惊厥性疾病的传统药物之一。本研究的目的是调查该植物叶乙醇提取物对小鼠电惊厥和化学惊厥诱发癫痫的抗惊厥活性。
在小鼠戊四氮（PTZ）和最大电休克（MES）诱发的癫痫中，研究提取物（200、400、800mg/kg，口服，p.o.）的抗惊厥活性。地西泮（1mg/kg）和苯妥英（25mg/kg）腹腔注射（i.p.）用作参考药物。此外，为了研究γ-氨基丁酸能系统的作用，在给予柠檬马鞭草之前还腹腔注射了氟马西尼（2mg/kg）。
提取物没有任何毒性，并且显著缩短了PTZ（90mg/kg）诱发癫痫的持续时间并延长了潜伏期。在MES试验中，柠檬马鞭草以非剂量依赖性方式使后肢强直性伸展持续时间在统计学上显著缩短。氟马西尼逆转了该植物提取物在PTZ模型中的抗惊厥活性。
结果表明柠檬马鞭草叶乙醇提取物对惊厥性疾病具有抗惊厥活性。该植物提取物似乎通过增强γ-氨基丁酸能系统产生抗癫痫作用。需要进一步研究以探讨其确切机制。此外，可以得出结论，目前的结果与伊朗古代文献中提到的柠檬马鞭草提取物治疗惊厥的积极作用一致。
