Evaluation of the Antioxidative and Protective Effects of Thymoquinone in a Pentylenetetrazole-induced Epilepsy Model

Objective: Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder that leads to neuronal excitability and provokes various forms of cellular reorganization in the brain.We investigated the antioxidative and protective effects of thymoquinone (TQ) from the perspective of biomarkers in serum samples of rats using a pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced epilepsy model.Methods: Twenty-one adult, male Wistar albino rats were randomly assigned to three groups.( 1) Control (n=6); 0.5 mL saline (i.p.).( 2) PTZ (n=7); 35 mg/ kg PTZ (i.p.).( 3) TQ+PTZ (n=8); 20 mg/kg TQ orally (p.o.)+ 35 mg/kg PTZ (i.p.).To induce kindling, PTZ was injected at a subconvulsive dose (35 mg/kg, i.p.) every other day for 24 days.Then, on the 26 th day of the study, a single loading dose of PTZ (75 mg/kg) was injected into the animals.Seizure severity was evaluated with the Racine scale.Blood samples were taken from rats under anesthesia by the cardiac puncture method.The serum levels of myeloperoxidase (MPO), ischemia-modified albumin, total oxidant status (TOS), total antioxidant status (TAS), advanced oxidation protein products (AOPP), total sulfhydryl (T.sulfhydryl), and paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) were evaluated colorimetrically by the ELISA method, using a spectrophotometer.Results: A significant relationship was found between PTZ and TQ+PTZ groups for TAS (p=0.020),TOS (p=0.006),AOPP (p=0.015), and T. sulfhydryl (p=0.009).MPO and PON-1 were not significant (p>0.05).Conclusion: TQ may be used as an adjuvant agent in the regulation of epileptic seizures with its antioxidative and protective functions in the PTZ-induced epilepsy model.At the same time, serum parameters can potentially be diagnostic tools for the effective managing of treatment.