Effects of an ethanolic extract of Desmodium adscendens on central nervous system in rodents

This study investigates some pharmacological effects of the ethanolic extract of the leaves of Desmodium adscendens (Papillionaceae), a medicinal plant in the African traditional medicine, on the central nervous system. The plant extract induced hypothermia and had analgesic effect in mice. D. adscendens suppressed the tonic phase of convulsion and mortality induced by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) in mice. In addition, the plant extract delayed the onset of PTZ forelimb clonus, and generalized limbic seizures induced by kainic acid. In contrast, the plant extract did not affect either tonic convulsion induced by maximal electroshock in mice or the progression of limbic seizures towards the status epilepticus in rats.