the protective effects of the echium amoenum seed oil against seizures induced by pentylenetetrazole

Background: many recent studies have documented that polyunsaturated fatty acids (pufas) as a safe supplement raise seizure thresholds. however, the evidence of seed oil supplements on seizure susceptibility remains controversial, and among them, echiumseed oil (eo) is a mixture of ω-3 and ω-6 pufas. objectives: this study aimed to test the effects of the sub-chronic administration of eo on intravenous pentylenetetrazole (ptz) seizure threshold, considering its antioxidant activity and biochemical parameters. methods: fifty male mice were divided into five groups (10 in each), including control (no treatment), vehicle (sesame oil), and eo (1, 3, and 5 g/kg) groups. vehicle and eo were administered p.o. once a day for four weeks. then, the intravenous ptz induced-seizure threshold was determined. finally, the serum concentration of lipid, creatinine, alanine aminotransferase (alt), aspartate transaminase (ast), alkaline phosphatase (alp), and the activity of superoxide dismutase (sod) was assessed. results: pretreatment with eo raised the seizure threshold dose-dependently compared to the vehicle. pretreatment with eo had no adverse effect on the serum concentration of alp, ast, alt, creatinine, high-density lipoprotein (hdl), and low-density lipoprotein (ldl), but at the dosages of 3 and 5 g/kg decreased the concentration of cholesterol, very low-density lipoprotein (vldl) (p < 0.05), and triglyceride (tg) (p < 0.01). also, 1 and 3 g/kg of eo improved the activity of sod (p < 0.01). conclusions: pretreatment with eo increases the seizure threshold without negative impacts on the liver and kidney biomarkers, correlated with its positive effects on antioxidant activity and serum lipid profiles.