Study of anticonvulsant effect of citronellol, a monoterpene alcohol, in rodents

de Sousa DP, Gonçalves JC, Quintans-Júnior L, Cruz JS, Araújo DA, de Almeida RN
Neuroscience Letters, 2006


ABSTRACT:

Citronellol is one monoterpene alcohol, which is present in the essential oils of various aromatic plant species. This study evaluated the neuroprotective activity of citronellol on pentylenetetrazol- and picrotoxin-induced convulsions and maximal electroshock-induced seizures in mice. Administration of citronellol significantly reduced the number of animals of convulsion induced by pentylenetetrazol and eliminated the extensor reflex of maximal electroshock-induced seizures test in about 80% of the experimental animals. In addition, administration of citronellol showed protection in the pentylenetetrazol and picrotoxin tests by increasing the latency of clonic seizures. We also investigated the effect of citronellol in the rat isolated nerve using the single sucrose-gap technique. We showed that the amplitude of the compound action potential decreased more than 90% when the monoterpene was incubated for 30 min at 6.4 mM and we did not verify any effect on the repolarization of the compound action potential. Taken together, our results demonstrated an anticonvulsant activity of the citronellol that could be, at least in part, explained by the diminution of the action potential amplitude.

CITATION:

de Sousa DP, Gonçalves JC, Quintans-Júnior L, Et Al. Study of anticonvulsant effect of citronellol, a monoterpene alcohol, in rodents. Neurosci Lett. 2006;401(3):231-235.


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