Anticonvulsant activity of the methanolic extract of Entada abyssinica Steud. Ex. A. Rich.

Abstract

The methanolic extracts of leave (ML) stem bark (MSB) and root bark (MRB) of Entada abyssinica were evaluated for it's anticonvulsant activities against subcutaneous pentylenetetrazole (Sc-PTZ) and maximal electroshock-induced seizures in mice and chicks respectively. All the extracts proved to be effective in inhibiting maximal electroshock (MES) in chicks, with no protection against Sc-PTZ induced seizures in mice. ML, MSB and MRB protected 83.3, 66.7 and 83.3 % of the animals from MES induced seizures respectively. Preliminary phytochemical screening of the extracts revealed the presence alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, steroids and glycosides. The intraperitoneal (i.p.) LD50 for ML, MSB and MRB was found to be 1587.5, 387.3 and 162.0 mg/kg respectively. The observed anticonvulsant activities of the extracts in MES test suggest that these extracts may be useful in the treatment of grandmal epilepsy.