Anticonvulsant activity of Erythrina mysorensis bark extract in an animal model of epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common neurological disorder characterized by paroxysmal dysrhythmia, seizure, with or without body convulsions and sensory or psychiatric phenomena. There are many mechanisms by which seizures can develop in either normal or pathologic brains. Three common mechanisms include: (i) diminution of inhibitory mechanism (especially synaptic inhibition due to GABA), (ii) enhancement of the excitatory synaptic mechanism (especially those mediated by NMDA), and (iii) enhancement of endogenous neuronal burst firing (usually by enhancing voltage dependent calcium currents).[1] Erythrina mysorensis is a small tree with few or no prickles.[2] Literature survey reveals that there are no scientific reports regarding anti-epileptic activity of Erythrina mysorensis. Hence this study was undertaken to evaluate anti- epileptic activity of extract of Erythrina mysorensis bark using different in vivo models such as maximum electroshock (MES), pentylenetetrazole, and locomotor activity.