Essential Oils and Their Constituents Anticonvulsant Activity.docVIP

Molecules 2011, 16, 2726-2742; doi:10.3390/moleculeOPEN ACCESS molecules ISSN 1420-3049 /journal/molecules Review Essential Oils and Their Constituents: Anticonvulsant Activity Reinaldo Nóbrega de Almeida 1,*, Maria de Fátima Agra 1, Flávia Negromonte Souto Maior 1 and Dami?o Pergentino de Sousa 2 1 Laboratório de Tecnologia Farmacêutica, Federal University of Paraíba, Caixa Postal 5009, CEP 58051-970, Jo?o Pessoa, PB, Brazil; E-Mails: agramf@ltf.ufpb.br (M.-F.A); famaior4@ (F.-N.S.M.) 2 Department of Physiology, Federal University of Sergipe, CEP 49100-000 S?o Cristóv?o, SE, Brazil; E-Mail: damiao_desousa@.br * Author to whom correspondence should be addressed; E-Mail: reinaldoan@.br. Received: 13 December 2010; in revised form: 18 March 2011 / Accepted: 22 March 2011 / Published: 23 March 2011 Abstract: A literature-based survey of plants species and their essential oils with anticonvulsant activity was carried out. As results, 30 species belonging to 13 families and 23 genera were identified for their activities in the experimental models used for anticonvulsant drug screening. Thirty chemical constituents of essential oils with anticonvulsant properties were described. Information on these 30 species is presented together with isolated bioactive compound studies. Keywords: central nervous system; essential oil; antiepileptic drugs; terpenes; medicinal plants 1. Introduction According to the WHO [1], about 450 million people in the entire world have suffered mental, neurological, or behavioral problems at some time in their life. Extensive research on plants and their derivatives has taken place in recent years that could provide some new alternative treatments and therapeutic uses for diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). Epilepsy is the term used for a group of disorders characterized by recurrent spontaneous seizures that apparently result