Evaluation of Anticonvulsant and Anxiolytic Activity of Methanolic Extract of Leaves of Syzygium Aqueum (Brum. F)

AIM OF PRESENT STUDY:In recent year there has been a tremendous increase in demand for herbal drugs due to its safety, efficacy and better therapeutic results and also due to its economic pricing as compared to synthetic or allopathic drugs, which have several therapeutic complications. The selection of this plant, Syzygium aqueum was made on the basis of its High therapeutic value, Easy availability, Degree of research work which is not done Very less pharmacological studies have been carried out on the leaves of Syzygium aqueum. Hence, I have decided to choose Syzygium aqueum on which detailed studies on Preliminary Phytochemical and Pharmacological actions on CNS is done. THE PLAN OF WORK: The plan of work for the study of Syzygium aqueum was carried out as follow. Collection and authentication of raw material Preliminary phytochemical studies: Preparation of extract Qualitative phytochemical studies: Pharmacological studies: Acute oral Toxicity study, Screening of Anxiolytic activity, Screening of Anticonvulsant activity SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION: The leaves of Syzygium aqueum belonging to family Myrtaceae has been examined to gain an insight of its Phytochemical and pharmacological behaviors. The preliminary phytochemical investigation of Methanolic extract of leaves of Syzygium aquem showed the presence of Carbohydrate, Alkaloids, Phytosteroids, Flavonoids, Phenolic compounds and Tannins. The pharmacological and acute toxicity studies of Methanolic extract was performed by following, OECD-423 guidelines (Acute toxic class method). No mortality or acute toxicity was observed upto 2000mg/kg of body weight. Medicinal plants have served as sources of readily accessible, inexpensive, and effective medication since the earliest times known to man. Several ethnomedicinal plants have been found to possess neurobehavioral profile and serve as alternative to modern medicine. Biological evaluation and scientific validation of the ethnomedicinal plants are the need of the hour. The present study was proposed to assess anxiolytic, and anticonvulsant effects of methanolic extract of leaves of an ethnomedicinal plant, Syzygium aqueum. Anxiety disorders are due to involvement of GABAergic, serotonergic, involvement. The adrenergic and dopamanergic system have also been shown to play a role in anxiety. BZA have been extensively, used for the last 40 years to treat several forms of anxiety, but due to their unwanted side effects, alternative treatment strategies with favorable side effect profiles. Medicinal plants are a good source to find new remedies for these disorders. Despite the wide spread traditional use of Syzygium aqueum for treating various disorders there are no reports of scientific evaluation of its anxiolytic and anticonvulsant activity. The present work demonstrates that the Syzygium aqueum leaf extract had anxiolytic activity in mice by Elevated Plus Maze, Rotarod and Open field models. Elevated Plus Maze is used to evaluate psychomotor performance and emotional aspects of rodents. Results showed that plant extracts treated mice exhibited significant increase in the number of open arm entries but decreases in time spent in closed arm, which reflects plants anxiolytic property. The open field test is used to evaluate the animal emotional state. The open field model examines anxiety related behavior characterized by the normal aversion of the animal to an open area. Thus, animals removed from their acclimatized cage and placed in environment express anxiety and fear, by showing alteration in all or some parameters. Mice treated with extract showed increase in number of rearings and time spent in the center. Rota rod test, the difference in the fall of time from the rotating rod between the vehicle and extract treated groups were taken as an index of muscle relaxation. Plant extract showed significant decrease in the locomotory score and fall of time of the mice from the rotating rod. The results of the present laboratory animal study indicate that Methanolic extract of Syzygium aqueum leaf extract possesses anticonvulsant activity. The present study demonstrated the anticonvulsant effects of the methanolic extract of Syzygium aqueum in both chemically and electrically induced seizures in mice. The extract exhibited dose dependent protection in the MES and PTZ induced convulsions. Nevertheless, in unprotected animals, the extract significantly increased seizure latency and reduced seizure duration compared with the control group in all two models at all tested doses. The effect of most of antiepileptic agents is to enhance the response to GABA by facilitating the opening of GABA-activated chloride channels. GABA receptors were involved in epilepsy and their direct activation would have an antiepileptic effect. The anticonvulsant, anxiolytic, and sedative effects of benzodiazepines like diazepam are mostly attributed to enhance the action of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABAA) (Yemitan O.K. etal.,2005). Actually, benzodiazepines bind to the gamma subunit of the GABAA receptor, due to which a structural modification of the receptor results in an increase in GABAA receptor activity. Benzodiazepines do not substitute for GABA, which bind at the alpha subunit, but increase the frequency of channel opening events, which leads to an increase in chloride ion conductance and inhibition of the action potential (Muhammed.N et al.,and Garcia 2006). According to some researchers, the anxiolytic action of benzodiazepines may be due to the direct activation of glycine synapses in the brain (Muhammed.N et al., and P.Brambilla, 2013). This may explain the mechanism of action of the tested extract as well, because it is clear from the results that the effect of the extract was similar to diazepam. Previous phytochemicals reported in the literature, various Flavonoids, glycosides, Alkaloids and triterpenoids, isolated from Syzygium aquem would be the effective constituents for their anxiolytic and anticonvulsant effect. In conclusion, Methanolic extract of Syzygium aqueum possesses anxiolytic and anticonvulsant effects and these findings collaborate with the ethnomedicinal uses of this plant. The isolation of active chemicals from this plant might serve as lead compounds for the synthesis of drugs which could be used in the management of these nervous disorders