Piperacillin-tazobactam (PTZ) is known to cause false-positive results in the Platelia Aspergillus enzyme-linked immunoassay (EIA), due to contamination with galactomannan (GM). We tested 32 lots of PTZ and 27 serum specimens from patients receiving PTZ. GM was not detected in the lots of PTZ; one serum specimen (3.7%) was positive. PTZ formulations commonly used in the United States today appe...

Several lines of evidence suggest that norepinephrine (NE) can modulate seizure activity. However, the experimental methods used in the past cannot exclude the possible role of other neurotransmitters coreleased with NE from noradrenergic terminals. We have assessed the seizure susceptibility of genetically engineered mice that lack NE. Seizure susceptibility was determined in the dopamine beta...

Introduction: This study was designed to investigate the possible anticonvulsant effect of acute administration of an aqueous extract of flowers of Alcea aucheri (EFA) in a seizure model. Methods: Seizures were induced in male adult Swiss mice by administration of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) or Maximal Electroshock (MES). Mice were randomly subjected to receive saline, EFA (8.75-175 mg.kg-1), or d...

OBJECTIVE Previously, analgesic, hypnotic, and anticonvulsant effects have been suggested for Rosa damascena (R. damascena). In the present study, possible anti-seizure and neuro-protective effects of hydro-alcoholic extract of R. damascena has been investigated after inducing seizures in rats by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). MATERIALS AND METHODS The rats were divided to five groups: (1) CONTROL...

This study investigated sex differences in responding to the pentylenetetrazol (PTZ, a gamma-aminobutyric acid A antagonist) discriminative stimulus and to substitution to PTZ during ethanol withdrawal. The PTZ stimulus has served as an anxiogenic stimulus in numerous studies. Adult male and female rats were trained to discriminate PTZ (16 mg/kg i.p.) from saline in a two-lever food-reinforced ...

Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) is a common convulsant agent used in animal models to investigate the mechanisms of seizures. Although adult zebrafish have been recently used to study epileptic seizures, a thorough characterization of the PTZ-induced seizures in this animal model is missing. The goal of this study was to perform a detailed temporal behavior profile characterization of PTZ-induced seiz...

Background: Electromagnetic fields (EMF) with different intensities are widely used at home, offices and public places.Today, there is a growing global concern about the effects of human exposure to EMFs. Epilepsy is one of the most common chronic neurological diseases, affecting 50 million people of all ages worldwide. We aimed to investigate the effect of exposure to Wi-Fi radiation on epilep...

Stress affects seizure susceptibility in animals and humans, but the underlying mechanisms are obscure. Here, we provide evidence that GABA(A) receptor-modulating neurosteroids derived from deoxycorticosterone (DOC) play a role in stress-related changes in seizure control. DOC, an adrenal steroid whose synthesis is enhanced during stress, undergoes sequential metabolic reduction by 5alpha-reduc...