Departamento de Química, Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, UEPG, Ponta Grossa, Brazil.
Departamento de Ciências Farmacêuticas, Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, UEPG, Ponta Grossa, Brazil.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2021 Jul 15;275:114142. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2021.114142. Epub 2021 Apr 25.
Cymbopogon citratus (DC.) Stapf (C. citratus) is consumed as an infusion in folk medicine due to its pharmacological properties and action in the central nervous system. Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that affects millions of people. Since the currently available antiepileptic drugs often cause undesirable side effects, new alternative therapeutic strategies based on medicinal plants have been proposed.
This study aimed to investigate the anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects of C. citratus essential oil (EO) and hydroalcoholic extract (E1) from its leaves, as well as of its related compounds citral (CIT) and geraniol (GER) against the effects of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced seizures in zebrafish (Danio rerio).
To evaluate the anticonvulsant properties of the samples, adult animals were pre-treated (by immersion) and subsequently exposed to PTZ solution. The involvement of GABA receptors in the antiepileptic effects was investigated by the coadministration of flumazenil (FMZ), a known GABA receptor antagonist. Oxidative stress markers malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione (GSH), catalase (CAT) and nitric oxide (NO) were assessed in zebrafish brain homogenates after PTZ exposure.
All samples increased the latency time for the first seizure, which was reduced when animals were pretreated with FMZ, suggesting the involvement of GABA receptors in the observed properties. The association between CIT and GER at the lowest concentration studied showed a synergistic effect on the anticonvulsant activity. Decreases in MDA and NO levels and increases in GSH and CAT levels in the brain of treated animals suggested the neuroprotective effect of the compounds investigated.
Our results proved that C. citratus EO, E1, CIT and GER have anticonvulsant effects in zebrafish and could be used as a promising adjuvant therapeutic strategy for epilepsy treatment. Furthermore, zebrafish demonstrated to be an alternative animal model of epilepsy to evaluate the anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects of C. citratus.
香茅（DC.） Stapf（C. citratus）因其药理学特性及其在中枢神经系统中的作用而被民间医学用作浸剂。癫痫是一种影响数百万人的神经疾病。由于目前可用的抗癫痫药物经常引起不良副作用，因此已经提出了基于药用植物的新的替代治疗策略。
本研究旨在研究香茅精油（EO）和其叶片的水醇提取物（E1）以及相关化合物柠檬醛（CIT）和香叶醇（GER）对戊四氮（PTZ）诱导的斑马鱼（Danio rerio）癫痫发作的抗惊厥和神经保护作用。
为了评估样品的抗惊厥特性，成年动物进行预处理（浸泡），然后暴露于 PTZ 溶液中。通过共同给予氟马西尼（FMZ），一种已知的 GABA 受体拮抗剂，研究 GABA 受体在抗癫痫作用中的参与。在 PTZ 暴露后，评估斑马鱼脑匀浆中的氧化应激标志物丙二醛（MDA）、谷胱甘肽（GSH）、过氧化氢酶（CAT）和一氧化氮（NO）。
所有样品均增加了首次癫痫发作的潜伏期，当动物用 FMZ 预处理时，潜伏期缩短，表明观察到的特性涉及 GABA 受体。在所研究的最低浓度下，CIT 和 GER 的联合显示出对抗惊厥活性的协同作用。治疗动物大脑中 MDA 和 NO 水平降低以及 GSH 和 CAT 水平升高表明化合物具有神经保护作用。
我们的结果证明，香茅 EO、E1、CIT 和 GER 对斑马鱼具有抗惊厥作用，可作为治疗癫痫的有前途的辅助治疗策略。此外，斑马鱼被证明是评估香茅抗惊厥和神经保护作用的癫痫替代动物模型。
