EVALUATION OF ANTI EPILEPTIC ACTIVITY OF GMELINA ARBOREA ROXB. FRUIT EXTRACTS BY STRYCHNINE INDUCED TONIC CONVULSION IN MICE

Abstract

Gmelina arborea roxb. is found in the tribal areas of Koraput district, Odisha, India. It is extensively used traditionally by the tribal people as anthelmintic, antimicrobial, antidiabetic, hepatoprotective and antiepileptic. The present study is an attempt to explore the antiepileptic activity of different fruit extracts of plant G. arborea using ethanol, ethyl acetate, n-butanol and petroleum ether as solvents. The extracts were screened for nontoxic properties examined by acute toxicity study and evaluated for their antiepileptic activity. The antiepileptic activity of above extracts was evaluated by using strychnine induced tonic convulsion in Swiss albino mice. The extracts were found as nontoxic. All extracts were able to show antiepileptic activity at a single dose of 200 mg/kg body weight (b.w.). The activities are comparable with the standard drug such as Diazepam. The dose of ethyl acetate, n-butanol and petroleum ether extracts of G. arborea showed lesser antiepileptic activity than the standard drug diazepam except ethanol extract. Among all the solvent extracts, the ethanol extract showed better antiepileptic activity even in comparison with the standard drug. The data were verified as statistically significant by using one way ANOVA at 1 % level of significance (p < 0.01) followed by z-test.