The Anticonvulsant and Neuroprotective Effects of Baicalin on Pilocarpine-Induced Epileptic Model in Rats

Abstract

Baicalin, a flavonoid compound purified from plant Scutellaria baicalensis Georgi, has been reported to possess a wide variety of pharmacological properties including anti-oxidative, anti-apoptotic and neuroprotective properties. Oxidative stress can dramatically alter neuronal function and has been linked to status epilepticus (SE). However, the neuroprotective effect of baicalin on epilepsy is unclear. In this study we investigated whether Baicalin could exert anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects in the pilocarpine-induced epileptic model in rats. To this end, we recorded the latency to first limbic seizure and SE and observed the incidence of SE and mortality. The changes of oxidative stress were measured 24 h after pilocarpine-induced SE. Nissl staining, terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling and Fluoro-Jade B staining were performed to detect the neuronal loss, apoptosis and degeneration in hippocampus 72 h after pilocarpine-induced seizure. Pretreatment with baicalin significantly delayed the onset of the first limbic seizures and SE, reduced the mortality rate, and attenuated the changes in the levels of lipid peroxidation, nitrite content and reduced glutathione in the hippocampus of pilocarpine-treated rats. Furthermore, we also found that baicalin attenuated the neuronal cell loss, apoptosis, and degeneration caused by pilocarpine-induced seizures in rat hippocampus. Collectively, these results indicated remarkable anticonvulsant and neuroprotective effects of baicalin and should encourage further studies to investigate baicalin as an adjuvant in epilepsy both to prevent seizures and to protect against seizure induced brain injury.

Neuroprotective effects of flavonoids extracted from licorice on kainate-induced seizure in mice through their antioxidant properties

“…Zhan and Yang (2006) also demonstrated that isoliquiritigenin has protective potential against cerebral ischemia injury through the amelioration of cerebral energy metabolism and its antioxidant property. Several reports have indicated that flavonoids, such as naringin, baicalin, and vitexin, have neuroprotective effects on animal seizure models induced by KA, pilocarpine, or pentylenetetrazole (Golechha et al, 2011;Abbasi et al, 2012;Liu et al, 2012). In the present study, we found that pretreatment with LFs for 7 d significantly, albeit not completely, reversed the KA seizure-induced changes of SOD and MDA, indicating that LFs have a potential anti-oxidative effect.…”

Baicalin Reverses Depressive‐Like Behaviours and Regulates Apoptotic Signalling Induced by Olfactory Bulbectomy

“…Baicalin is a major polyphenol component isolated from Scutellaria radix roots that exerts beneficial effects in the central nervous system including promoting neural differentiation (Li et al, 2012a(Li et al, , 2012b and protecting against traumatic seizures (Cao et al, 2010;Ge et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2012). Studies in a chronic mild stress rat model demonstrated that these effects might be dependent on Erk1/2 activation or cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition (Li et al, 2011;Li et al, 2013aLi et al, , 2013b.…”

Latest research progress in the correlation between baicalein and breast cancer invasion and metastasis

“…The flavonoid has been purified, with a defined chemical structure (Fig. 1), and in addition to the various pharmacological effects that it exerts, baicalein has been widely used to treat various inflammatory diseases, allergies, thrombosis and ischemia, as well as being a scavenger of oxygen free radicals (3)(4)(5)(6)(7)(8)(9)(10). Previously, it has been shown that bacailein not only has a therapeutic effect on non-tumorous diseases, such as acute liver failure and acute myocardial ischemia (11,12), but it also exerts an inhibitory effect on tumor diseases, including colorectal, prostate, liver, lung, skin, stomach and ovarian cancer (13)(14)(15)(16)(17).…”