COMBINED ANTICONVULSANT EFFECT OF NIFEDIPINE AND PENTAZOCINE IN EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED CONVULSIONS BY ELECTRO CONVULSOMETER IN MICE AND RATS

The present study aimed to investigate the combined anticonvulsant effect of nifedipine (calcium channel blocker) and pentazocine (opioid analgesic) on the duration of convulsions, tonic hind limb extension and recovery in mice and rats. The study was initiated after obtaining ethical approval from the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC), Department of Pharmacology, Osmania Medical College, Koti, Hyderabad. The anticonvulsant effect of these drugs were screened using Maximal Electro-Shock (MES) method and animals showing tonic hind limb extension response were divided into groups (six animals per group) in both species. Both mice and rats (6 animals/group) were treated with nifedipine (10 mg/kg), pentazocine (30 mg/kg), a combination of nifedipine (10 mg/kg) and pentazocine (30 mg/kg) and control animals are given distilled water as vehicle. The drug administered by an intraperitoneal route. The data were analyzed using ANOVA and group means were compared with LSD Post Hoc Test. P values < 0.05 were considered as significant. The animals treated with both nifedipine 10 mg/kg and pentazocine 30 mg/kg showed a significant reduction in the duration of convulsions and tonic hind limb extension (THLE) in mice and rats as compared to other groups. The results obtained in this study provide supporting pharmacological evidence of efficacy, the possible potential benefit of combining nifedipine with pentazocine in epilepsy.