Black nightshade (S. nigrum) has anti-seizure activity in experimental animals. - GreenMedInfo Summary

BACKGROUND: Solanum nigrum is claimed in traditional medical practice, to be useful in the treatment of epilepsy in some parts of Nigeria. OBJECTIVES: To study the anti-convulsant property of the aqueous extract of the leaves of S. nigrum in chicks, mice and rats. METHOD: Aqueous extracts were administered intraperitoneally, at a pre-treatment time of 30 minutes, at graded doses and animals were challenged with different types of proconvulsants. RESULTS: The aqueous leaf extract produced a significantly (P<0.05) dose dependent protection against electrically-induced seizure in chicks and rats, pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure in mice and rats and picrotoxin-induced seizure in mice and rats. The anti-seizure property of the extract was potentiated by amphetamine. CONCLUSION: The result obtained in this study suggests that the leaves of this plant may possess anti-convulsant property in chicks, mice and rats.