Journal of

Introduction: More than 1% of world population suffer from epilepsy, which affects many aspects of individuals’ life. In fact, multiple treatment methods are used for this disorder, among which treatment effects of herbal plants can be introduced. Humulus Lupulus has been utilized in the traditional medicine as an anti-convulsion herb. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the anti-convulsive effect of Humulus Lupulus extract on the pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) kindling model of epilepsy.

Methods: The present experimental study (n=8) was carried out on 40 male mice which have been randomly chosen and divided into 5 groups (n=8), including 1-control group receiving only PTZ, 1 sham group receiving  distilled water  and 3  experimental groups which received equeous extract of Humulus lupulus in doses of 100, 200 and 300 mg/kg  30 minutes before PTZ injection via gavage tube. Chemical kindling was performed in all the groups by a total of 15 treatments with PTZ intraperitoneal injection of 35 mg/kg of body weight at every 48 hours. The data analysis was carried out by one-way ANOVA and Tukey post-hoc test.

Results: The study results revealed that administration of Humulus Lupulus extract had a significant effect on the decrease of PTZ-induced seizures. Moreover, this extract can inhibit progress of seizure stages, decrease seizure duration and increase letency time of seizure onset.

Conclusion: The findings of the present study demonstrated that aqueous extract of Hops plant has anticonvulsant effect on chemical kindling and as a result, it seems to be useful regarding the epilepsy treatment.