Protective effect of rutin on cognitive impairment caused by phenytoin.

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of the co-administration of phenytoin (PHT) and rutin in comparison with PHT and piracetam (PIM) on seizure control, cognitive, and motor functions in mice. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Increasing current electroshock seizure (ICES) test was used to evaluate the effect of the co-administration of PHT and PIM on convulsions. Cognitive functions in mice were assessed by a spontaneous alternation in behavior on a plus maze while motor functions were screened using rolling roller apparatus and by counting the number of arms entries on a plus maze. Brain acetyl-cholinesterase (AChE) activity was also estimated. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS: The expression of data was done as mean ± standard error of the mean. The normally distributed data were subjected to one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett's test. P < 0.05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The study showed that rutin when co-administered with PHT, significantly reversed PHT-induced reduction in spontaneous alternation without altering the efficacy of PHT against ICES, in both acute and chronic studies. Further, it also reversed PHT-induced increase in AChE activity. CONCLUSION: Rutin alleviated the PHT-induced cognitive impairment without compromising its antiepileptic efficacy.