| Abstract: | Ternstroemia pringlei Rose (Theaceae) and Ruta chalepensis L. (Rutaceae) have been used frequently for many years in Mexican traditional medicine as sedative and anticonvulsant remedies. In order to evaluate the attributed properties of these species on the CNS, some neuropharmacological tests were done. The methanol extract of T. pringlei flowers signifcantly delayed the onset of tonic seizures induced by strychnine; it diminished mortality totally and the number of animals that exhibited convulsions. R. chapepensis leaf and stem extract extended sleeping time induced by sodium pentobarbital; in addition, it showed protection against pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsions by increasing the latency period and diminishing the death rate. Extracts of both species inhibited electrically induced contraction in guinea-pig ileum; in each case, the effect was concentration-dependent. |
