RESUMO
Objective To investigate the protective effect of purslane with carbamazepine treatment. Methods Male albino rats were modulated by pilocarpine to be epileptic. Both the normal and epileptic rats were treated with carbamazepine, purslane or carbamazepine plus purslane, with separate non-treated control groups for both normal and epileptic rats. Results The data from the current study showed amelioration in amino acids and electrolytes in the epileptic rats treated with purslane and carbamazepine, with this amelioration occurring without decreasing the fertility hormones (testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone, luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone). Purslane treatments also prevented the increase in estradiol. The decreased epileptic hyperexcitability with purslane was evidenced by decreased glial fibrillary acidic protein and lipid peroxidation. Conclusions Natural products like purslane could be used with the highly repetitive drugs like carbamazepine to reduce or prevent its side-effects.