ANTICONVULSANT ACTIVITY OF MORINGA OLEIFERA LEAF

Moringa oleifera which is commonly known as drumstick tree has been used for its nutrition value and extensively used as a CNS depressant traditionally. Present work has been carried out to evaluate the anticonvulsant activity of methanolic extract of M. oleifera leaves against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) and maximal electroshock (MES) induced convulsions at different dose level (200 mg/kg and 400 mg/kg i.p.). Diazepam and phenytoin (5mg/kg i.p. and 25mg/kg i.p., respectively) were used as a reference standard. At both the doses it significantly (P < 0.0001) delayed the onset of clonic seizures in PTZ induced convulsions and significantly reduced (P < 0.0001) duration of hind limb extension in MES test. The phytochemical investigation of plant revealed the presence of alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins and saponins as major constituents. The data obtained indicates that methanolic extract of M. oleifera leaves may help to control grand mal and petit mal epilepsy.