Zingiber officinale extract pre-treatment ameliorates astrocytes activation and enhances neuroprotection in pentylenetetrazol-induced kindling model of epilepsy in mice

Introduction: Recently, herbal medicine is widely used as an alternative and complementary therapy in several neurological disorders such as epilepsy. The anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects of Zingiber officinale or ginger have been well-documented. The present study was designed to evaluate the effects of ginger extract pre-treatment on seizures behavior, neuronal density and astrocytes activation in pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)- induced kindling model. Methods: Kindling model was induced in mice by repetitive administration of PTZ at sub convulsive dose. Hydroalcoholic extract of ginger at doses of 25, 50 or 100 mg/kg were daily injected 10 days before PTZ injections and intraperitoneal administration of extract was continued 1h before each PTZ injection. Immunostaining against NeuN and GFAP as neuronal and astrocyte markers, respectively, was carried out on brain tissue sections. Results: Our data showed that ginger extract pre-treatment, especially at dose of 100 mg/kg, reduced the seizures behavior in PTZ receiving animals. Immunostaining against NeuN biomarker demonstrated that neuronal death was alleviated in animals under treatment of ginger extract. Furthermore, application of ginger extract attenuated the number of GFAP expressing cells in hippocampus of fully-kindled animals. Conclusion: Overall, our data suggest that ginger pre-treatment exerts significant neuroprotective effect by attenuation of astrocytes activation in PTZ-induced kindling model. It can be concluded that ginger might be used as effective supplementary agent in epileptic patients.