Anticonvulsant and Anti-amnesic Effects of an Aqueous Extract of Crassocephalum bauchiense (Hutch.) Milne-Redh. (Asteraceae) in Mice Pilocarpine Model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

This study aimed to investigate the anticonvulsant and anti-amnesic effects of Crassocephalum bauchiense aqueous extract in pilocarpine model of temporal lobe epilepsy. Mice were treated for seven consecutive days as follows: one normal group and one negative control group that received orally distilled water; four test groups that received orally four doses of Crassocephalum bauchiense aqueous extract (28, 70, 140 and 280 mg/kg), respectively; and one positive control group that received intraperitoneally 300 mg/kg sodium valproate. One hour after the first treatment (first day), status epilepticus was induced by intraperitoneal injection of a single dose of pilocarpine (360 mg/kg). Twenty-three hours after the injection of pilocarpine to mice, they received once again their different treatments. Sixty minutes later, they were injected with a sub-convulsive dose of picrotoxin (1 mg/kg), and the anticonvulsant property of the extract was determined. On day-seven, T-maze, elevated plus maze and open field tests were performed. Finally, mice were sacrificed and the hippocampus were isolated to determine the GABAergic/cholinergic signaling in the brain of mice. The aqueous extract of Crassocephalum bauchiense increased significantly the latency time of the onset of the tonic and clonic seizures, decreased the number and duration of seizures. Crassocephalum bauchiense extracts (280 mg/kg) significantly increased the latency time to status epilepticus and strongly prevented the convulsions. Its significantly decreased the number of clonic and tonic seizures, and their duration, respectively. Crassocephalum bauchiense (140 and 280 mg/kg) also prevented status epilepticus induced cognitive impairment in mice. The extract also ameliorated the GABAergic and cholinergic neurotransmission. These results suggested that Crassocephalum bauchiense extract has anticonvulsant and anti-amnesic effects. The aqueous extract of Crassocephalum bauchiense ameliorated epileptogenesis of temporal lobe epilepsy and could be used for the treatment of temporal lobe epilepsy.