Anticonvulsant activity of thymoquinone and its structural analogues

• Autor(a) principal: Sousa,Damião P. de
• Data de Publicação: 2011
• Outros Autores: Nóbrega,Franklin F. F., Santos,Camila C. M. P., Benedito,Rubens B., Vieira,Ygor W., Uliana,Marciana P., Brocksom,Timothy J., Almeida,Reinaldo N. de
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: eng
• Título da fonte: Revista Brasileira de Farmacognosia (Online)
• Texto Completo: http://old.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0102-695X2011000300012
• topic: quinones; anticonvulsant activity; seizures; central nervous system; structure-activity relationships oils

It has been widely reported that the crude oil of Nigella sativa L., Ranunculaceae, seeds and its major chemical component thymoquinone present anticonvulsant activity. These facts led us to verify the pharmacological potential of five structurally related para-benzoquinones on the pentylenotetrazol-induced seizures model, and establish the structural characteristics that influence the anticonvulsant activity of thymoquinone. The unsubstituted para-benzoquinone was the compound that exhibited the highest potency, while 2-methyl-p-benzoquinone was inactive. It was found that the presence of alkyl groups attached to the ring influence the pharmacological activity of the para-benzoquinones. In addition, the number, position, and size of these groups change the anticonvulsant potency of the compounds.