EFFICACY OF HERBAL EXTRACTS IN TREATMENT-RESISTANT FORM OF TEMPORAL LOBE EPILEPSY AND ITS ASSOCIATED BEHAVIORAL DISORDERS

Temporal lobe epilepsy with hippocampal sclerosis (TLE-HS) is a chronic neurological disorder characterized by recurrent, treatment-resistant seizures and is frequently associated with neuropsychiatric comorbidities, including depression and memory loss. Despite advances in antiepileptic therapies, effective treatments both seizures and associated behavioral deficits remain limited. Previous studies have reported anticonvulsant properties of Zingiber officinale, Carum carvi, and Moringa oleifera extracts in acute pentylenetetrazol-induced seizure models; however, their efficacy in the disease-relevant models of TLE-HS remains relatively under-explored.
In this study, a lithium–pilocarpine induced rat model of TLE-HS was employed to evaluate the antiepileptic potential of these herbal extracts, as well as their effects on TLE-HS-associated behavioral alterations. After completion of anti-epileptic and behavioral studies, histological analyses were performed on the rat brains to examine neuronal changes within hippocampal subregions.
The results demonstrated that herbal extracts did not exhibit antiepileptic effect in this model of the disease TLE-HS. However, treatment with Carum carvi and Moringa oleifera significantly improved depression-like behavior, while Moringa oleifera additionally ameliorated memory deficits in TLE-HS rats. Moreover, treatment with Zingiber officinale and Moringa oleifera was associated with increased neuronal counts in specific hippocampal regions.
Although antiepileptic effects were not observed in this model of TLE-HS, the findings of this study suggest that selected herbal extracts may exert antidepressant-like, memory improvement, and neuroprotective effects. Further studies are required to elucidate the underlying mechanisms of action of these herbal extracts and their efficacy in the treatment of depression and memory loss observed in human patients of TLE-HS.