The antiepileptic activity of Safranal in kindling model of epilepsy in male rats

Abstract

Recent studies suggested that safranal exerts anticonvulsant properties. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of safranal on epileptic activities in the amygdala electrical kindling model in male rats. Animals were implanted with a recording electrode on the skull and a tripolar in the amygdala. After 10 days of recovery, the afterdischarge (AD) threshold of each animal was determined and stimulated once daily the AD threshold for full kindling development. Then, parameters including afterdischarge duration (ADD), stage 4 latency (S4L), stage 5 duration (S5D), and stimulation threshold were determined before and after injection of safranal (0.05, 0.1, 0.2 ml/ kg; i.p). While the dose of 0.05 ml/kg had no significant effect, the dose of 0.1 ml/kg increased the AD threshold as well as S4L and decreased the S5D (P<0.05). Injection of 0.2 ml/kg of the safranal significantly decreased the ADD and S5D (P<0.05) and 83.3% of animals had no stage 4 and stage 5 of kindling (P<0.001). Based on the obtained data safranal has anticonvulsant effects dosedependently. It seems that a dose of 0.2 ml/kg is the minimum effective dose. Further investigation is warranted to conduct the clinical implications for the treatment of epileptic disorders.

Keywords:
Safranal; Epilepsy; Electrical Kindling; Amygdala; Seizure; Male Rat

Graphical abstract

Key Messages:

0.1 ml/kg of safranal had a significant decrease in S5D after 1 h and the AD threshold and S4L increased.

Both ADD and S5D significantly decreased 1 h after the dose of 0.2 ml/kg of safranal administration. Safranal at the dose of (0.2 ml/kg), could inhibit stages 4 and 5 development in fully kindled rats.