Background and Objective: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is a neurological disease with no effective treatment and is the most common form of focal epilepsy in adults and is usually resistant to conventional drug treatments. Enhanced oxidative stress and inflammation are important markers of TLE as a result of limbic system involvement. The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of Anethum graveolens (Dill) with known antiepileptic properties on hippocampal markers of oxidative and inflammatory events in kainate rat model of TLE.
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, 32 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: Sham, sham receiving Dill extract, epileptic, and epileptic receiving Dill extract. Kainic acid was used to induce epileptic seizures in animals. Dill extract at 400 mg/kg was injected intraperitoneally daily, starting one week before surgery and ending one hour before surgery. In the first twenty-four hours after surgery, seizure behavior was recorded and scored based on Racine classification. At the end of the study, oxidative and inflammatory markers were measured in the hippocampal tissue.
Results: The results of this study showed that kainic acid injection significantly increases seizure severity and hippocampal malondialdehyde (MDA), nitrite, tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and decreased catalase activity and pretreatment with Dill extract in the epileptic group significantly reduced seizure behavior and hippocampal MDA, TNFα, and COX-2 and improved catalase activity.
Conclusion: Pretreatment with Dill extract reduces seizure intensity and lowers hippocampal oxidative stress and inflammation in the kainate epileptic rats.