Abstract

Tapinanthus globiferus growing on Ficus glumosa is a plant used locally for the treatment of epilepsy. It is found in West Africa on many tree crops. The present study aims to investigate the anti-kindling and antioxidant activity of the aqueous extract of T. globiferus. A total of 40 rats were divided into 4 groups (n=10). Groups 1 to 3 received 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg, respectively, of the extract orally, followed by 35 mg/kg of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) i.p after an hour. Group 4 (control) was given 35 mg/kg of PTZ and normal saline and also observed for 30 min. This was repeated after every 48 h until all rats in the control group became fully kindled, that is, attained a racine score of 4 or 5 on three consecutive occasions. At the end of the experiment, the brain tissues of all rats were removed, homogenized and analyzed for antioxidant effect using lipid peroxidation, reduced glutathione, catalase, superoxide dismutase and uric acid tests. The extract was observed to significantly (p < 0.001) reduce the development of stage 5 kindling state as compared to the control group. The extract also significantly (p < 0.05) increased the activity of superoxide dismutase in the group treated with 400 mg/kg and also increased the activity of catalase in the 100 mg/kg treated group as compared to the control. The data obtained from this study suggests that the aqueous extract of T. globiferus growing on F. glumosa may possess bioactive compounds with antikindling and antioxidant effect and this may support its traditional use in the management of epilepsy.

Key words: Antikindling, Tapinanthus globiferus, antioxidant, epilepsy, pentylenetetrazole  rats.