Behavioral and antiepileptic effect of acute administration of the extract of the aquatic plant Echinodorus berteroi (Sprengel) Fassett (upright burhead)

Echinodorus berteroi is an aquatic plant found in Central America and the Caribbean to which antiepileptic action has been attributed by folk medicine. The aim of the present study was to investigate the potential behavioral and antiepileptic effect of decoctions (1, 5, and 30%, intraperitoneally) of the dried roots. One and five percent decoctions produced hypoactivity in mice. Hyperactivity induced by amphetamine (3 mg/kg, subcutaneously) was significantly reduced by the 30% decoction, in rats. The extracts did not modify the latency to the first clonic convulsion or the survival time of isoniazid (210 mg/kg, ip)-treated mice. The 30% decoction significantly increased the latency to the first picrotoxin-induced clonic convulsion (7 mg/kg, intraperitoneally), as well as survival time. Repeated administration of the 5% decoction (30-minute intervals) significantly reduced the amplitude (μV) of the epileptic spikes induced by topical application of penicillin to sensorimotor cortex, in curare-treated rats. In summary, the root decoctions of E. berteroi paradoxically exhibited neuroleptic and antiepileptic actions. Nevertheless, these results partly justify the use of the plant for the treatment of epilepsy by practitioners of folk medicine.