Selective antiseizure activity of synthetic morpholine in experimental animals

Abstract

More than two third of epileptic patients have inadequate control of seizure as no drug has been found 
to be truly antiepiletogenic, a process through which a normal neuron becomes epileptic. Morpholine is 
an alkaloid and an active constituent of Crinum jagus, a medicinal plant used in the treatment of all 
forms of convulsive seizures in traditional medicine. Antiseizure activity of morpholine was 
investigated. Convulsion was induced using maximum electric shock (MEST), pentylenetetrazole(PTZ), 
strychnine and picrotoxin in the appropriate animal models. Seizures onset time and death time were 
used as standard convulsive signs while prolongations of these features were taken as anticonvulsant 
activity of standard drugs/morpholine. Results were analyzed using SPSS-16.0 version. Acute toxicity 
(LD50) of morpholine was found to be 2.21 mg/kg (IP in mice) based on the arithmetic method of Karbar. 
Morpholine exhibited a dose dependent antiseizure activity against PTZ induced seizure (P<0.001). The 
antizeizure activity of morpholine was higher than that of valproic acid (P<0.001), a standard drug used 
in absence seizure. Morpholine showed no statistically significant antiseizure activity against MEST, 
strychnine and picrotoxin induced seizures. Synthetic Morpholine is though very toxic but, has potent 
selective antiseizure as well as antiepileptogenic activity which if well controlled could be used in the 
treatment of absence seizure and its complications in man. It is highly recommended that a further 
characterization of the extracts of C. jagus being carried out as well as clinical trial of a less toxic form 
of morpholine be carried out in man.