Background and Objective: Malva silvestris (Malvaceae), which is used in traditional medicine has antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. The effects of this plant on clonic seizure have not yet been studied. The present study evaluated the anticonvulsant effect of M. silvestris in a model of clonic seizures induced with pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) on male mice.

Materials and Methods: In this experimental study the anticonvulsant effect of M. silvestris was investigated using i.v PTZ-induced seizure models on mice. Different doses of the hydroethanolic extract of M. silvestris (150 and 300 mg/kg) were administered intraperitonally 2 hours before the  induction of PTZ. The effect of M. silvestris on the appearance of three separate seizure endpoints including myoclonic, generalized clonus and forelimb tonic extension phase was recorded. Differences were considered significant at p <0.05.

Results: The results showed that the M. silvestris extract had anticonvulsant effects on all the experimental treatment groups and significantly increased the seizure threshold. Hydroethanolic extract of M. silvestris significantly increased the onset time of myoclonic seizure (p<0.001) and increased the threshold for the forelimb tonic extension seizure (p<0.01) compared with the control group. But it did not show any significant effect on generalized clonic phase response.

Conclusion: The results of the present study imply that injection of hydroethanolic extracts of M. silvestris led to anticonvulsant activity in i.v. PTZ-induced seizure in male mice.