Anticonvulsant Effect of Different Extracts of Bacopa Monnieri on Cholinergic Metabolism during Pentylenetetrazole-induced Epilepsy

The study was carried out to investigate the anticonvulsant effects of different extracts of Bacopa monnieri (BM) against Pentylenetetrazole induced-epilepsy, with special reference to cholinergic metabolism of functionally different skeletal muscles. Rats were divided into eight groups consisted of six rats in each group. (a) control rats treated with saline, (b) PTZinduced epileptic group (60mg/kg, IP), (c) Epileptic group pretreated with n-hexane extract(nHE), (d) Epileptic group pretreated with chloroform extract (CE), (e) Epileptic group pretreated with Ethylacetate extract (EAE), (f) Epileptic group pretreated with n-Butanol extract (n-BE), (g) Epileptic group pretreated with Aqueous extract (AE) and Epileptic group pretreated with diazepam (DP). BM extract (180mg/kg body weight) was given to the animals for one week prior to the injection of PTZ. Increased Acetylcholine content and decreased acetylcholinestarase activities were observed in skeletal muscles during PTZ induced seizures. On par with the reference drug, diazepam, the cholinergic activity was reversed during pretreatment with different extracts of BM. These findings suggest that the bioactive factors present in specific fractions of BM ameliorate the cholinergic dysfunctions that occur during PTZ-induced epilepsy.