EVALUATION OF ANTI-EPILEPTIC EFFECTS OF BIOACTIVE FRACTIONS OF METHANOLIC EXTRACT OF LAGENARIA SICERARIA: A POTENT MEDICINAL VEGETABLE PLANT

Context: Epilepsy is a neurological disorder of brain in which the clusters of neurons, occasionally signal abnormally and cause strange emotions, sensations, and behavior, or sometimes muscle spasms, convulsions, and loss of consciousness. Lagenaria siceraria (Molina) Standley (LS), commonly known as “bottle gourd” (English), possesses several medicinal properties; little is known about its action as a nerve tonic. Objective: The purpose of this study was to characterize (or to study) the anti-epileptic potential of the bioactive fractions of methanolic extract of LS fruits through pharmacological screening. Materials and Methods: The experiment was conducted in specific animal models i.e., Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced convulsions and Maximal electroshock-induced seizures (MES) in Swiss albino mice to evaluate anti-epileptic effects. The effect of the fractions was also tested on motor coordination using the rota-rod apparatus. Results and Conclusions: Preliminary phytochemical screening of the methanolic extract of LS and its fractions showed a huge range of phytoactive compounds. Among all the fractions, chloroform and acetone fractions were found to have more number of such phytoactive compounds. Chloroform fraction of methanolic extract of LS (CFMLS) showed the presence of saponins, phytosterols, terpenoids, polyphenolic compounds and fats, while acetone fraction of methanolic extract of LS (AFMLS) showed the presence of saponins, phenolic compounds, flavonoids and tannins. Oral administration of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg of CFMLS and AFMLS gave significant results during pharmacological evaluation. AFMLS more significantly increased the onset of myoclonic seizures in PTZ model as well as in MES model than CFMLS. The effect of both the fractions was comparable to that of the Diazepam (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.). Though diazepam and LS fractions do not produce any overt motor dysfunction, when they were evaluated by rota rod performance. The results of the study for the first time show that the plant possesses anti-epileptic activity, confirming the traditional claims. Future research should focus on the isolation, identification and the mechanism of action of the phytoactive constituents of the plant.