Evaluation of Aloe vera and Thymus kotschyanus aqueous extracts in prevention of pentylenetrazole induced seizures in mice

Introduction: Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders that affects many aspects of people s lives. It is results from an abnormal discharge of brain neurons. The main point in the treatment of epilepsy, long-term treatment, continuous and multi-drug combined together that provides a background incidence of side effects of drugs. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Aloe vera and Thymus kotschyanus (Hamedani thyme) aqueous extracts in prevention of pentylenetrazole induced seizures in mice.Methods: The study was conducted in 9 groups, each of which containing 8 male mice. A negative control group with normal saline injections as control group, two positive control groups with 0.5 and 1 mg/kg of body weight diazepam, three groups of aloe vera extract with 10, 30 and 60 mg/kg of body weight and three groups of Thymus kotschyanus extract in doses of 200, 400 and 600 mg/kg of body weight are used as a group of herbal medicines. All injections were also performed intraperitoneally. 30 minutes after injection with different treatment, pentylenetetrazole was injected in doses of 85 mg/kg, then motor activity and behavior of animals in all groups, the development of tonic-clonic seizure, seizure latency and severity and survival rate after administration of PTZ was determined. Data analyses were carried out by one-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test.Results: All treatments in the plant extract group significantly increased the seizure threshold (p <0.05) and the herbs themselves did not show a significant difference in the effect on delay in seizure (p <0.05).Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that the Aloe vera extract and Thymus kotschyanus extract in preventing the emergence and improvement of pentylenetrazole induction seizure symptoms in male mice are effective and the exact mechanism needs to be further investigation.

Keywords:

Seizures , Aloe vera , Thymus kotschyanus , pentylenetetrazole