Egyptian Journal of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology

1. Introduction

Epilepsy is a serious common neurological disease. It usually leads to decreased quality of life with increased mortality and morbidity [1]. About 30% of patients with epilepsy do not respond well to the available antiepileptic drugs [2]. The use of classical and new antiepileptic agents is usually associated with increased incidence of adverse effects. Thus an important hope for many trails is to develop new anti-seizure agents with a good rate of success and less risk of side effects [3].

Panax ginseng root (Korean ginseng) is considered as one of the most valuable and widely used medicinal herb in Asian countries [4,5]. It has been identified as a potential therapy for many disorders including anti-stress, anxiolytic, Alzheimer's disease, cognitive impairment and dementia [6]. The goal of the present study is to screen the anticonvulsant activity of different doses of panax ginseng on maximal electroshock (MES) induced seizure in mice.

2. Material and Methods

3. Results

The results of the present study showed that, in the MES induced seizure model, sodium valproate at low, medium and high doses (300, 600, 900 mg/kg) showed significant anticonvulsive effects which represented by significant reduction of the duration of hind limb extension in the animals compared with the control untreated group (table 1,2). Furthermore, panax ginseng at low dose administration (500 mg/kg) showed no anticonvulsant effect. However, in moderate and high doses (250 mg/kg & 350 mg/kg) respectively panax ginseng showed a significant reduction in the duration of hind limb extension in mice compared with the control untreated group (Table 1,2).

In the present study, P. ginseng showed significant improvement in motor coordination estimated using Rotarod as evident by the insignificant change in the rotarod performance test between the P. ginseng treated and the control values. Moreover, on general observation no eyelid ptosis, bristling fur, weeping eyes were observed in the P. ginseng treated group. (Table 2)

4. Discussion

In this study Panax ginseng (P. ginseng) different doses were evaluated against MES induced convulsion in mice. MES induced seizure test is a widely used test to determine the potential antiseizure effects of different substances in rodents [9]. In the present work, P. ginseng at moderate and high doses significantly decreased the HLE duration of convulsion in mice, denoting that P. ginseng has anticonvulsant effects. These results are inconsistent with Choi et al., [10] who demonstrated that, the Korean red ginseng exerts anticonvulsant action in mice against picrotoxin and bicuculline induced seizure via the change in the brain GABA and glutamate contents.

Gupta et al., [11] also demonstrated that P. ginseng induced antiepileptic effect against PTZ induced kindling in rats.

There are many types of ginseng available for medical use. The most popular are Panax quinquefolicus (American ginseng), Korean red ginseng and Panax ginseng (oriental ginseng). The active constituents vary according to the species [12].

The most active constituents of P. ginseng are ginsenoside Rb1, ginsenoside-Re, ginsenoside-Rd, and ginsenoside- Rg1 [13]. Seizures can be evoked by oxidative stress and free radicals accumulation under pathological conditions [14].

kabuto et al., [15] demonstrated that antioxidant administration showed protective efficacy against iron-induced epileptic discharges in rats.

Lim et al. [16] and Cantuti-Castelvetri et al. [17] showed that ginsenosides, the active components of P. ginseng, exerted potent antioxidant properties.

Zhou et al., [18] also demonstrated that ginsenoside-Re can improve mitochondrial function and reduce mitochondrial swelling via reduction of MDA brain content and up-regulation of the activity of superoxide dismutase.

Citraro et al. [19] demonstrated that, cyclooxygenase (Cox) which involved in the production of many Pro-inflammatory prostaglandins can play an important role in inflammation-induced seizure. Cox-2 in the brain reported to increase during and after seizures thus Cox-2 inhibitors able to reduce or even prevent the development of absence seizure in WAG/Rij rat [19].

de Oliveiraet al., [20] also showed that ginsenoside- Ro has an anti-inflammation action against muscle damaging.

Indeed P. ginseng targeted multiple points within the inflammatory cascade as it can inhibit inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), cycloxygenase-2 (Cox-2) and nuclear factor kappa B [21]. Wang et al., [22] also demonstrated that, ginsenoside-Rb1 decreases expression of Cox-2 mRNA in brain tissue, reduces inflammation and nerve damage. They also showed that ginsenoside- Rg1 can improve memory and learning functions in rats, regulate cell survival and neurogenesis, and inhibit the activity of caspase 3.

Wang et al., [22] also showed that ginsenoside Rd can reduce oxidative and inflammatory damage, protect mitochondria and reduce cell apoptosis in a wide range of tissues.

Liu et al., [12] showed that the ginsenoside Rb-1 in P. ginseng has been shown to produce a neuroprotective action by blocking the sodium channels and it also has been shown to regulate GABAergic transmission Indeed MES induced seizures are sensitive to sodium channels blocking agents.

It can be concluded, from all of the previous works and our study that, the antiepileptic activity of P. ginseng might be due to its antioxidative actions, anti-inflammatory, its regulating effect on sodium ion channels and/or due its possible modulation of GABA receptor channel activity for further investigations.

Competing Interests

The authors declare no competing interests.