Study of the anti-epileptic effects of Foeniculum vulgare essence and extract on male mice, using the PTZ and MES methods

Epilepsy is the oldest nervous system disorder known to mankind and one of the most common diseases in human population. Despite extensive studies, multiple aspects of the disease and the nature of the disorder are still unclear. Currently 30-40% of the epileptic patients show resistance to all of the conventional therapeutic agents. In Iranian traditional medicine, various types of plants have been used to treat this disorder, one of them being Foeniculum vul gare (FV). This study aimed at evaluating the effects of FV extract and essential oil on seizures induced by Maximal ElectroShock (MES) and Pentylentetrazol (PTZ) in male mice. The first method involved inducing seizures in male mice using Pentylentrazol (1 mg/kg), administered intraperitionally (i.p.), and the second method involved inducing seizures by Electroshock (60 mA, 60 Hz, 0.10 sec.). Then, the seizures were tried to be stopped or brought under control using FV extract and essential oil. Our results indicated that although the fatal doses of PTZ leads to 100% fatality rate in the animals, the essential oil protects the mice against tonic convulsion induced by MES (TD50=0.3 ml/kg), and PTZ (LD50=0.28 ml/kg). At anti-seizure doses, the FV essential oil causes sedation and impairment of motor functions. Also the result of the study shows that the oil has greater anti-seizure effect compared to the extract.