Sparteine is a quinolizidine alkaloid extracted from Lupinus that has numerous pharmacological properties both in humans and animal models. In the central nervous system, sparteine reduces locomotor activity, has light analgesic effects, also has no effects on short-term memory or spatial learning and does not induce changes in behavior or electroencephalographic (EEG) activity. However, the an...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of hydrochlorothiazide (HCTZ), a thiazide-type diuretic and an antihypertensive drug, on the anticonvulsant activity of numerous antiepileptic drugs (AEDs: carbamazepine--CBZ, phenytoin--PHT, valproate--VPA, phenobarbital--PB, oxcarbazepine--OXC, lamotrigine--LTG and topiramate--TPM). METHODS The effects of HCTZ and AEDs on convu...

Late openings of sodium channels were observed in outside-out patch recordings from hippocampal neurons in culture. In previous studies of such neurons, a persistent sodium current appeared to underlie the ictal epileptiform activity. All the channel currents were blocked by tetrodotoxin. In addition to the transient openings of sodium channels making up the peak sodium current, there were two ...

Anticonvulsant effect of cytoskeletal depolymerizing drugs in combination with potassium channel (KATP) opener and adenylate cyclase activator was evaluated in animal models of epilepsy. Seizures were induced in the animals by subjecting them to maximal electroshock (MES) or by injecting a chemical convulsant, pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). Moreover a correlation with the nerve growth factor (NGF) w...

Chorea is a rare side effect of anticonvulsants. We describe three patients who developed chorea secondary to anticonvulsant combination use. A mechanism to explain this finding is proposed. After identification of an index case with anticonvulsant-induced chorea, we reviewed the electronic data base records for all patients with seizures followed in the epilepsy clinics at our university-based...