Anticonvulsant Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Abrus Precatorius Leaves

Abrus precatorius which is commonly called as Indian licorice has been used for many centuries by traditional healers of Tanzania for the treatment of convulsions. The present work has been carried out to evaluate the anticonvulsant activity of the ethanolic extract (EE) of A. precatorius leaves against Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ), Picrotoxin and Maximal electroshock (MES) induced convulsions at the doses 100, 200, 400 mg/kg. Diazepam (5mg/kg, i.p.) and Phenytoin (25mg/kg i.p) act as reference standards. At the medium dose and high dose, Abrus precatorius extract significantly delayed the onset of clonic seizures induced by PTZ and Picrotoxin and reduced the duration of hind limb extension in MES induced convulsion test. The phytochemical investigation of the leaves of A.precatorius revealed the presence of flavonoids, triterpenoids, saponins, reducing sugars, phenolic compounds and glycosides. The results obtained indicate that the ethanolic extract of A. precatorius may help to control grand mal and petitmal epilepsy.