Phytochemical analysis of Ficus carica L. active compounds possessing anticonvulsant activity

K Raafat; M Wurglics

doi:10.1016/j.jtcme.2018.01.007

Phytochemical analysis of Ficus carica L. active compounds possessing anticonvulsant activity

J Tradit Complement Med. 2018 Sep 28;9(4):263-270. doi: 10.1016/j.jtcme.2018.01.007. eCollection 2019 Oct.

Authors

K Raafat¹, M Wurglics²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Faculty of Pharmacy, Beirut Arab University, 115020 Beirut, Lebanon.
² Institute of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Johann Wolfgang Goethe University Frankfurt, Max-von-Laue-Str. 9, 60438 Frankfurt/Main, Germany.

Abstract

The anticonvulsant potential of Ficus carica methanol-extract (Fc) has been studied. It was found that Fc most active fraction is rich in oligosaccharides (OFG). ¹H, ¹³C NMR and Nano-ESI, MALDI MS, and LC-MS techniques proved that OFG contains alpha-glucopyranoside oligomer in high amounts. Both Fc and OFG reduced strychnine (STR) convulsion-action. Fc and OFG fully protected the experimental-animals from STR-lethality. The intracerebroventricular-administration (ICV) of Fc or OFG in combination with glycine in ethanol-treated mice caused a dose-dependent returning to a 2nd-loss of righting-reflex (LORR), and was antagonized by STR. FC and OFG ICV injection counteracted STR-inhibition, confirming that Fc/OFG anticonvulsant mechanism of action was mediated by potentiation of glycine receptor. These results support Fc and OFG potential anticonvulsant-activity with good safety-profile.

Keywords: Anticonvulsant activity; CNS, central nervous system; EC50, half maximal effective concentration; ECD, electrochemical detector; Fc, Ficus carica methanol extract; Ficus carica; Intracerebroventricular; MALDI MS; Moraceae; Nano-ESI MS; OFG, oligosaccharide rich fraction; STR, Strychnine; TEC, tonic extensor convulsion.