Effect of intracerebroventricular injection of olive leaf extract on PTZ-induced seizures in male rats

Introduction: Olive leaf contains anti-inflammatory and COX-2 inhibitor compounds. Considering the role of the COX enzyme in seizures, this research was performed to assess the effects of this extract in treatment of seizures induced by PTZ. Methods: In this research, male Wistar rats (200±20 g) were injected intra-cerebroventricularly with 1 μl saline or olive leaf extract (125 μg, 250 μg and 500 μg), before the intraperitoneal administration of PTZ (80 mg/kg) for induction of seizure. Then, seizure score and onset times of every stage of seizure were recorded during 20 minutes after PTZ administration. The data was analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and non parametric tests. Results: Result of this research showed that the injection of 125, 250 and 500 μg of olive leaf extract had no effect on the onset time of seizure stages 1, 2 and 3 compared to the control group (P>0.05). However, they significantly decreased the onset time of seizure stages 4 and 5 compared to the control group (P<0.05). On the other hand, olive leaf extract decreased onset time of generalized (tonic-clonic) seizures, but had no effect on partial seizures. Different doses of olive leaf extract had no effect on seizure scores. Conclusion: Olive leaf extract has convulsive property and this effect is time and dose dependent.