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Anticonvulsant Effect of Swertiamarin Against Pilocarpine-Induced Seizures in Adult Male Mice

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Abstract

Epilepsy is one of the common and major neurological disorders, approximately a third of the individuals with epilepsy suffer from seizures and not able to successfully respond to available medications. Current study was designed to investigate whether Swertiamarin (Swe) had anticonvulsant activity in the pilocarpine (PILO)-treated mice. Thirty minutes prior to the PILO (280 mg/kg) injection, the mice were administrated with Swe (50, 150, and 450 mg/kg) and valproate sodium (VPA, 200 mg/kg) once. Seizures and electroencephalography (EEG) were observed, and then the mice were killed for Nissl, Fluoro-jade B (FJB) staining. Astrocytic activation was examined in the hippocampus. Western blot analysis was used to examine the expressions of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-10 (IL-10). The results indicated that pretreatment with Swe (150, 450 mg/kg) and VPA (200 mg/kg) significantly delayed the onset of the first convulsion and reduced the incidence of status epilepticus and mortality. Analysis of EEG recordings demonstrated that Swe (150, 450 mg/kg) and VPA (200 mg/kg) sharply decreased epileptiform discharges. Furthermore, Nissl and FJB staining revealed that Swe (150, 450 mg/kg) and VPA (200 mg/kg) relieved the neuronal damage. Additionally, Swe (450 mg/kg) dramatically inhibited astrocytic activation. Western blot analysis showed that Swe (450 mg/kg) significantly decreased the expressions of IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α and elevated the expression of IL-10. Taken together, these findings revealed that Swe exerted anticonvulsant effects on PILO-treated mice. Further studies are encouraged to investigate these beneficial effects of Swe as an adjuvant in epilepsy.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region science and technology support program (Grant No. 2015BAK45B01) and the Ningxia 13th Plan of 5-year major scientific program (Grant No. 2016BZ 07). We are indebted to the staff in the Animal Center and the Science and Technology Centre who provided assistance in the study.

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  1. Xian-Hua Deng and Xiao Zhang have contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, College of Pharmacy, Ningxia Medical University, 1160 Shengli Street, Yinchuan, 750004, People’s Republic of China

    Xian-Hua Deng, Xiao Zhang, Jing Wang, Peng-Sheng Ma, Ru Zhou & Jian-Qiang Yu

  2. Ningxia Key Laboratory of Craniocerebral Diseases of Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, People’s Republic of China

    Lin Ma & Tao Sun

  3. Key Laboratory of Hui Ethnic Medicine Modernization, Ministry of Education, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, People’s Republic of China

    Yang Niu

  4. Ningxia Hui Medicine Modern Engineering Research Center and Collaborative Innovation Center, Ningxia Medical University, Yinchuan, 750004, People’s Republic of China

    Jian-Qiang Yu

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  1. Xian-Hua Deng
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Deng, XH., Zhang, X., Wang, J. et al. Anticonvulsant Effect of Swertiamarin Against Pilocarpine-Induced Seizures in Adult Male Mice. Neurochem Res 42, 3103–3113 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-017-2347-0

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