Anticonvulsant effects of Fuzi total alkaloid on pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure in mice

J Pharmacol Sci. 2013;123(2):195-8. doi: 10.1254/jphs.13057sc. Epub 2013 Oct 4.

Abstract

We investigated the anticonvulsant effect of acute Fuzi total alkaloid (FTA) in seizure induced by the GABAA-receptor antagonist pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). FTA significantly increased the seizure latency and decreased the mortality in PTZ-treated mice. Administration of PTZ increased c-Fos expression in the hippocampus, medial prefrontal cortex, and piriform cortex; and this PTZ-induced effect was inhibited by FTA in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, the effects of FTA on PTZ-induced seizure and c-Fos expression were reversed by the GABAA/benzodiazepine receptor-selective antagonist flumazenil. These findings suggest that the anticonvulsant effects of FTA may be related to modulation of GABAA-benzodiazepine receptor complex.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Anticonvulsants / pharmacology*
  • Cerebral Cortex / metabolism
  • Disease Models, Animal
  • Diterpenes
  • Dose-Response Relationship, Drug
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal
  • Flumazenil / pharmacology
  • GABA-A Receptor Antagonists*
  • Hippocampus / metabolism
  • Male
  • Mice
  • Mice, Inbred ICR
  • Pentylenetetrazole* / antagonists & inhibitors
  • Phytotherapy*
  • Plant Extracts / pharmacology*
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos / metabolism
  • Receptors, GABA-A / metabolism*
  • Seizures / chemically induced*
  • Seizures / drug therapy*
  • Seizures / metabolism

Substances

  • Anticonvulsants
  • Diterpenes
  • Drugs, Chinese Herbal
  • GABA-A Receptor Antagonists
  • Plant Extracts
  • Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-fos
  • Receptors, GABA-A
  • fuzi drug herbal
  • Flumazenil
  • Pentylenetetrazole