DOI: 10.36347/sjams.2017.v05i08.046

Pages: 3209-3213

Epilepsy is the second most common and frequently encountered neurological condition that imposes heavy burden on individuals, families, and also on healthcare systems. Due to development of resistance, intolerability and side effects of modern drugs, there is a demand for developing new antiepileptic drugs with improved efficacy and safety. Ipomoea reniformis belonging to the family Convolvulaceae, traditionally indicated for epileptic seizures. The study was conducted to evaluate the antiepileptic activity of ethanolic leaf extract of Ipomoea reniformis (200 & 400mg/kg) against Maximal Electroshock, Pentylenetetrazole and Isoniazid induced convulsions in rats. Phenytoin (25 mg/kg) and diazepam (2 mg/kg) were used as reference drugs. The extract was also evaluated for its influence on GABA levels in brain to ascertain its mechanism of action. In all the tested three models, Ipomoea reniformis (200 & 400 mg/kg) alleviated and protected the seizures significantly (P<0.01 and P<0.001, respectively) in dose dependent manner. Further, ethanolic leaf extract of Ipomoea reniformis showed significant increase in brain GABA levels (P < 0.01) compared to control. From the result it was concluded that, ethanolic leaf extract of Ipomoea reniformis exhibited anticonvulsant property, and it may be due to enhancing the GABA levels in the brain