INDIGENA
BIODIVERSITY
Epilepsy
G 701 SUMMARY
TRADITIONAL USES
The leaves of this plant infused with vinegar are given to children for the treatment of convulsions in traditional medicine. The species is also used for such varied conditions as hysteria, epilepsy, vertigo, colic, intestinal worms, poisoning, headache, anxiety, and eye problems.
In particular, the plant is used in Mexican folk medicine to treat epilepsy.
SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE
The neuropharmacological profile was studied. It was concluded that the sedative hypnotic potentiation, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant and antinociceptive effects suggest that the plant induces a depressant activity on the CNS.
The crude extract alone at 300 mg/kg replicated the anticonvulsant effect of diazepam (1 mg/kg), delaying the occurrence of seizures and reducing the incidence of the tonic convulsion and mortality.
A 2006 review concluded that metabolites of the species with anti-epileptic activity have not yet been reported.
PATENT ASPECTS
There are a few further activities disclosed in the patent literature, namely anti-cancer, athletic performance, and oral antimicrobial. All are limited or abandoned. There appears to be scope for further patenting for a product outside those areas.
Research to determine the active constituents which produce the epileptic effect of this species may produce patentable results if the activity is greater than expected. Furthermore, any such compounds that are isolated could provide a lead for a further research programme. Novel compounds from that research are even more likely to be patentable.