There are several lines of evidence that opioidergic and nitrergic systems could modulate the seizure threshold. We previously have shown that sildenafil had proconvulsant effects in a model of clonic seizure induced by pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) or bicuculline. In the present study, we examined whether the opioid system participates in the action of sildenafil on the PTZ-induced clonic seizures ...

Eighteen new 5-benzylidene-3-(4-arylpiperazin-1-ylmethyl)-2-thioxo-imidazolidin-4-ones were designed as hybrid structures from previously reported anticonvulsant compounds, synthesized and tested for anticonvulsant activity. Initial anticonvulsant screening was performed using the strychnine (2 mg/kg IP) potent generalized-induced seizure and pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) (60 mg/kg IP) acute clonic-...

Here we study the role of a pleiotropic pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-6 (IL-6), in epilepsy. To examine this problem, we used human recombinant IL-6 applied intranasally (400 ng/40 microl) to rats 1h before seizures induced by systemic injection of pentylenenetrazole (PTZ, 75 mg/kg). Overall, compared to the saline-treated control animals (n = 11 in each group), IL-6-treated rats demon...

GABA-potentiating neuroactive steroids such as pregnanolone have potent protective effects in the pentylenetetrazol seizure test. We sought to determine if tolerance develops to the anticonvulsant activity of pregnanolone with chronic administration. Mice were treated with two daily injections of a 2 x ED50 dose of pregnanolone (25 mg/kg, i.p.) for 7 days. On the day after the chronic treatment...

Previous research has shown that ethosuximide in high enough doses disrupts operant responding in pigeons. Whether or not these same doses protect against seizure activity in this species has not been determined. In the present study a system for scoring pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures in pigeons was developed and the effects of ethosuximide on such seizures were evaluated. Pentylenetetrazol...