SCHIFF BASES OF 2,4-DIHYDROXYBENZALDEHYDE AS POTENTIAL ANTICONVULSANT COMPOUNDS; IN VIVO AND DOCKING STUDIES

The present study was aimed to evaluate the anticonvulsant activity of 2,4-dihydroxybenzaldehyde derivatives. The experimental group of mice have been subjected to pentylenetetrazole. strychnine and picrotoxin induced convulsions. Different convulsion parameters including onset of convulsion, duration of convulsion, number of animal convulsed and percentage protection were studied. A constant dose dependent increase in onset and reduction in duration of convulsions was observed along with significant protection from death in different groups of mice. The tested compounds showed comparable anticonvulsant activity to that of standard drug phenytoin. Four compounds showed highly significant anticonvulsant effect in case of picrotoxin-induced convulsions while the other two compounds gave significant results against the convulsions. The molecular docking studies were performed with carbonic anhydrases and the binding interaction values reinforced the experimental results. The effect of tested compounds on brain GABA level was also estimated by spectrophotometric method. Compounds 1 at lower dose (150 mg/kg) were found to significantly (p < 0.001) increase the brain GABA level. The tested compounds also showed sedative effect by potentiating the sleeping time with diazepam in different groups of mice.