Effects of Piper nigrum L. on epileptiform activity in cortical wedges prepared from DBA/2 mice

✍ Scribed by Ruo Qi Hu; J. A. Davies

• Book ID: 101287445
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 129 KB
• Volume: 11
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0951-418X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1573(199705)11:3<222::aid-ptr83>3.0.co;2-o

✦ Synopsis

This study investigated the effect of a water extract of Piper nigrum L. on spontaneous depolarizations, accompanying afterpotentials and N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA)-induced depolarizations in cortical wedges prepared from genetically epilepsy-prone DBA/2 mice. Solutions of P. nigrum extract (0.5S, 1S and 2S) were administered when spontaneous depolarizations were well established in magnesium-free perfusing medium. The 2S extract produced a significant reduction in the number of spontaneous depolarizations (p < 0.001) whilst the number of afterpotentials per burst was suppressed significantly by 1S and 2S (p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). P. nigrum also decreased the amplitude of NMDA-induced depolarizations (p < 0.001). The present results suggest that an antagonistic action at NMDA receptors might contribute to the anticonvulsant properties of P. nigrum.