Abstract

This objective of this study was to evaluation of the anticonvulsant effect of Indigofera suffruticosa through the methanol extract of its leaves. Swiss albino mice were subjected to dosages of 100 and 300 mg/kg methanol extract for the study of the anticonvulsant action; the following convulsants were used: pentylenetetrazole (100 mg/kg), picrotoxin (10 mg/kg), strychnine (2 mg/kg), and pilocarpine (600 mg/kg). In the evaluation, 2 mg/kg (ip) diazepam was used as the standard drug in all experimental models and GABAA receptor antagonist Ro 15-1788. The methanol extracts presented excellent anticonvulsant activity, increasing the duration of latency for the beginning of the first seizure in all the tests. The extract in a dose of 300 mg/kg showed its anticonvulsant effect similar to diazepam. The results showed an anticonvulsant activity of I. suffruticosa which can be, at least partly associated with involvement of GABA-BDZ system according to effect demonstrated with Ro 15-1788.

Key words: Indigofera suffruticosa, anticonvulsant activity, experimental models, Ro15-1788, mice.