Proanthocyanidin from Vitis vinifera attenuates memory impairment due to convulsive status epilepticus

•Pilocarpine-induced memory impairment in juvenile Wistar rats after convulsive status epilepticus (CSE).•Proanthocyanidin-rich-fraction (PRF) attenuates hippocampal weight loss after CSE.•Proanthocyanidin-rich-fraction increases antioxidative enzymatic activities and decreases hippocampal malondialdehyde concentration following CSE.•Proanthocyanidin-rich-fraction enhances acetylcholinesterase activities and decimates the hippocampal concentration of tissue necrotic alpha.•Memory impairment following CSE may be attenuated with PRF obtained from Vitis vinifera seed. This study investigated the effects of proanthocyanidin-rich fraction (PRF) of Vitis vinifera seed extract on the markers of hippocampal-dependent memory in convulsive status epilepticus (CSE) rat model. One hundred juvenile Wistar rats were randomized into 6 groups. Group 1 (n = 10) received propylene glycol (PG 0.1 ml/100 g) intraperitoneally (i.p), while convulsion was induced in groups 2–6 (n = 18 each) using lithium (127 mg/kg i.p) and pilocarpine hydrochloride (40 mg/kg i.p). The established CSE rats in groups 2–6 received a daily treatment of PG (0.1 ml i.p), PRF (30 mg/kg i.p), PRF (20 mg/kg BW i.p), PRF (10 mg/kg BW i.p) or diazepam (5 mg/kg BW i.p) for seven days. Thereafter, they were kept untreated but with access to feed and water for 21 days. The control and CSE-treated rats were subjected to behavioral tests, while the biochemical and histomorphological evaluations of the hippocampus were done after the sacrifice. The results were presented as mean ± SEM in graphs or tables. The level of significance was considered when p