Pharmacology of Centella asiatica Extract in Convulsions.

Akshay B More, Vishal S Patil, Maroti D Mundkar, Shubhangi B Vidhate.

Centella asiatica has been useful in epilepsy, however its complete anticonvulsant action on various types of epilepsies is not well documented and its mechanism of action has not been clearly understood. The hydroalcoholic extract of Centella asiatica leaves, were screened for anticonvulsant activity, anti-oxidant property and its effect on diazepam withdrawal hyperactivity by using different experimental models. The final mechanism of action seems to be similar to that of benzodiazepines (GABA agonists). The effect of Centella asiatica extract on diazepam withdrawal hyperactivity gave an additional evidence to its mechanism of action. Also, it has a potent anti-oxidant property, which may make its use in epilepsy more beneficial. These findings explicitly suggest that the hydroalcoholic extract of Centella asiatica possesses a potential anticonvulsant activity as diazepam.