SOME NEUROPHARMACOLOGICAL AND TOXICOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE ETHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF CUSSONIA BARTERI SEEMAN (ARALIACEAE) IN LABORATORY ANIMALS

SOME NEUROPHARMACOLOGICAL AND TOXICOLOGICAL STUDIES OF THE ETHANOLIC LEAF EXTRACT OF CUSSONIA BARTERI SEEMAN (ARALIACEAE) IN LABORATORY ANIMALS

ABSTRACT

Cussonia barteri is used in traditional medicinefor the management of convulsion and epilepsy, especially in children in Ghana and Nigeria. Literature survey revealed that the safety and efficacy of such important medicinal plant have not been scientifically validated. In the present study, ethanolic leaf extract of the plant was subjected to toxicological and some neuropharmacological studies in laboratory animals (mice, rats and chicks) to determine its safety and justify its use in traditional medicine for the management of epilepsy. Theacute toxicity study was carried out in mice (i.p) and rats (oral) using method of Lorke (1983)and 28 days sub-acute toxicity study was performed in rats. Effects of the extract on body weight, relative organs weight, haematological and biochemical parameters were examined following 28 days of daily oral administration of graded doses of it in rats.The extract was evaluated for anticonvulsant activities using maximal electroshock test in chicks, pentylenetetrazole (PTZ), picrotoxin, strychnine, isoniazid and aminophyllineinduced seizure in mice.The sedative and anxiolytic effect of the extract was tested on diazepam-induced sleeping time, hole-board, beam walking assay and open field test in mice. Preliminary phytochemical screening revealed that the extract suggested contains flavonoid, saponin, cardiac glycosides, tannins, steroids/terpenoids and glycosides. The oral median lethal dose (LD50) of the extractwas estimated to be greater than 5,000 mg/kg body weight while the intraperitoneal median lethal dose (LD50) was estimated to be 2,154.1 mg/kg in mice.The extract neither produces significant changes in body weights nor affected the haematological and biochemical parameters, but slightly increased the relative weight of the brain, liver and heart. Histopathological evaluation of the organs showed that vii the morphology of kidney, liver and lungs were adversely affected, suggesting that the extract could be toxic to the liver, kidney and lungs.The extract did not protect the chicks against maximal electroshock seizure; neither didit shorten the mean recovery time. Similarly, the extract did not significantly protect against picrotoxin, isoniazid and aminophylline induced seizures in mice. The extract produced 66.67% and 83.33% protection against strychnine and pentylenetetrazole induced seizures respectively at the highest dose (400mg/kg) tested which suggests that the extract may contain compound(s) that may be beneficial in the management of absence or myoclonic seizures. The extract decrease the number of head dips in hole-board test, suggesting its sedative property which was confirmed by the ability of extract to prolonged diazepam sleeping time.The extract did not significantly increase the time spent on the beam but at the highest dose tested significantly increased the number of foot slips, an index of motor coordination deficit. The extract insignificantly decreased number of rearing, Total Square and Central Square crossedin an open field test. These findings suggest that the ethanolic leaf extract of Cussonia barteri contain bioactive compound(s) that possesses anticonvulsant and sedative activities, thus supportingthe ethno-medical use of the plant for the management of epilepsy. However, the ethanolic leaf extract of Cussonia barteri may have some adverse effects on the liver, kidney and lungs and should be used with caution.

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