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Anticonvulsant and anxiolytic evaluation of leaf extracts of Ocimum gratissimum, a culinary herb

1★, 1, 1, 1★ Corresponding author

  1. 1Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka - 410 001, Enugu State, Nigeria.

CORRESPONDENCE

C. O. Okoli

Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nigeria, Nsukka - 410 001, Enugu State, Nigeria.

drcharlesokoli@yahoo.com

Received: 11-10-2009; Accepted: 13-03-2010.

Volume 2, Issue 1 · pp. 36-40 · 2010 · DOI: 10.4103/0974-8490.60580

ABSTRACT

Anticonvulsant and anxiolytic activities of leaf extracts and fraction of Ocimum gratissimum L. (Lamiaceae) were studied using seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol and open-field tests in mice. The results showed that the extracts and fraction increased the latency of tonic and tonic-clonic seizures and death and elicited 50% protection against mortality. In the open-field test, the extracts and fraction decreased the frequency of line crossing, center square entries, rearing against a wall and grooming, whereas grooming duration and freezing frequency and duration were increased. Acute toxicity test in mice gave an oral LD50 greater than 5000 mg/kg for the methanol extract. These findings suggest that extracts of this plant possess anticonvulsant and anxiolytic-like properties.

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    Okoli, C. O., Ezike, A. C., Agwagah, O. C., & Akah, P. A. (2010). Anticonvulsant and anxiolytic evaluation of leaf extracts of Ocimum gratissimum, a culinary herb. Pharmacognosy Research, 2(1), 36-40. https://doi.org/10.4103/0974-8490.60580

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    © 2010 Author(s)

    This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms. CC BY-NC-SA 4.0