Abstract

Argyreia speciosa commonly known as Vridha daraka in Sanskrit is one of the important plants used in indigenous system of medicine. The root is regarded as an alternative tonic and useful in the diseases of nervous system. To confirm the veracity of aforementioned claim, we have evaluated the anticonvulsant effect of the extract. In this investigation, the mice were pretreated with different doses of Argyreia speciosa extract (100, 200, 400 mg/kg) for 10 days and then, they were subjected to either pentylenetetrazole (80 mg/kg) or maximal electroshock seizures (50 mA, 0.2 s) treatment. The hydroalcoholic extract of Argyreia speciosa at the dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg significantly delayed the latency to the onset of first clonus as well as onset of death in unprotected mice and exhibited protection in 16.66% and 33.33% of pentylenetetrazole treated mice respectively. Whereas in case of maximal electroshock-seizures, the dose of 200 and 400 mg/kg significantly reduced the duration of hind limb extension and both the doses were statistically found to be equipotent. The reference standards, clonazepam (0.1 mg/kg) and phenytoin (20 mg/kg) provided complete protection. Thus, present study revealed anticonvulsant effect of Argyreia speciosa against pentylenetetrazole- and maximal electroshock-induced convulsions in mice.