DOI: 10.36347/sajp

Pages: 436-441

The purpose of this research work is to study the anticonvulsant activity of Evolvulus aisinoides Linn (convolvulacea) used in traditional medicine for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases, amnesia, mental illness and epilepsy. In this study, the anticonvulsant activity of the crude methanolic extract was investigated at doses of 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg using the Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) induced seizure (chemically induced seizure) and maximal electroshock seizure (electrically induced seizure) models in mice. The sedative hypnotic effect was also studied using the Diazepam induce sleep model. The onset of diazepam induced sleep was decreased dose dependently; there was a marked increase in duration of sleep to 4-7 times the duration of sleep in the control group.. The extract at doses of 100- 400 significantly increased the latency of PTZ induced seizure; there was a 100% protection against seizure at the highest dose of 400mg/kg. In the MEST test a dose dependent decrease in the duration of seizure was also observed with all the doses administered.400mg/kg of the extract and 30mg/kg Diazepam shows the highest activity in this test. These findings suggest that the methanol extract of the plant contains bioactive principles that may be beneficial in the treatment of epilepsy