Mechanisms underlying modifications in the severity of audiogenic convulsions

7-Nitroindazole potentiates the antiseizure activity of some anticonvulsants in DBA/2 mice

7-Nitroindazole, a selective neuronal nitric oxide synthase inhibitor (25-200 mg kg(-1), intraperitoneally (i.p.)) antagonized audiogenic seizures in DBA/2 mice in a dose-dependent manner. We investigated the effects of 7-nitroindazole at a dose of 25 mg kg(-1) i.p., which per se did not show anticonvulsant activity against audiogenic seizures in DBA/2 mice, on the antiseizure activity of some conventional antiepileptic drugs. 7-Nitroindazole sometimes potentiated the anticonvulsant activity of carbamazepine, diazepam, lamotrigine, phenytoin, phenobarbital and valproate against audiogenic seizures in DBA/2 mice. The degree of potentiation by 7-nitroindazole was greatest for phenobarbital and diazepam, less for valproate and least for carbamazepine, lamotrigine and phenytoin. The increase in anticonvulsant activity was associated with a comparable increase in motor impairment. However, the therapeutic index of combined treatment with diazepam+7-nitroindazole, phenobarbital+7-nitroindazole or valproate+7-nitroindazole was more favourable than that of the diazepam+vehicle, phenobarbital+vehicle or valproate+vehicle treatment. The results indicate that 7-nitroindazole is able to increase the protective activity of some conventional antiepileptics and this effect appears not to result only from the impaired synthesis of nitric oxide. In fact, mice receiving 7-nitroindazole (25 mg kg(-1), i.p.) and L-arginine (30 microg/mouse, intracerebroventricularly (i.c.v.) did not show significant changes of ED(50) values in comparison to those of related groups of animals treated with 7-nitroindazole and anticonvulsants. 7-Nitroindazole was able to increase the brain levels of dopamine and noradrenaline and its anticonvulsant effects and changes in catecholamine content were antagonized by pretreatment with alpha-methyl-paratyrosine, an agent inhibiting the synthesis of catecholamines. The fact that alpha-methyl-paratyrosine reverses concomitantly both the increase in brain levels of dopamine and noradrenaline and the anticonvulsant properties of 7-nitroindazole strongly suggests an important role of catecholamines in the antiseizure activity of 7-nitroindazole. Since 7-nitroindazole did not significantly influence the total and free plasma levels of the anticonvulsant drugs studied, we suggest that pharmacokinetic interactions, in terms of total or free plasma levels, are not probable. 7-Nitroindazole did not significantly affect the hypothermic effects of the anticonvulsant compounds studied. 7-Nitroindazole showed an additive effect when administered in combination with some classical anticonvulsants, most notably diazepam, phenobarbital and valproate and its activity could be, in part, due to an increase of monoamine levels.

The role of dopamine in epilepsy

The clinical benefits of dopamine agonists in the management of epilepsy can be traced back over a century, whilst the introduction of neuroleptics into psychiatry practice 40 years ago witnessed the emergence of fits as a side effect of dopamine receptor blockade. Epidemiologists noticed a reciprocal relationship between the supposed dopaminergic overactivity syndrome of schizophrenia and epilepsy, which came to be regarded as a dopamine underactivity condition. Early pharmacological studies of epilepsy employed nonselective drugs, that often did not permit dopamine's antiepileptic action to be clearly dissociated from that of other monoamines. Likewise, the biochemical search for genetic abnormalities in brain dopamine function, as predeterminants of spontaneous epilepsy, proved largely inconclusive. The discovery of multiple dopamine receptor families (D1 and D2), mediating opposing influences on neuronal excitability, heralded a new era of dopamine-epilepsy research. The traditional anticonvulsant action of dopamine was attributed to D2 receptor stimulation in the forebrain, while the advent of selective D1 agonists with proconvulsant properties revealed for the first time that dopamine could also lower the seizure threshold from the midbrain. Whilst there is no immediate prospect of developing D2 agonists or D1 antagonists as clinically useful antiepileptics, there is a growing awareness that seizures might be precipitated as a consequence of treating other neurological disorders with D2 antagonists (schizophrenia) or D1 agonists (parkinsonism).

Effects of 5-HT receptor antagonists on seizure susceptibility and locomotor activity in DBA/2 mice

The effect of antagonists of serotonin (5-HT) receptor subtypes and alpha 2-adrenoceptors was investigated on audiogenic seizures and locomotor activity in DBA/2 mice. 5HT1c receptor antagonists (mianserin and cyproheptadine), 5-HT3 receptor antagonist (zacopride) and 5-HT4 receptor antagonist (ICS 205-930) increased the latency of audiogenic seizures and decreased the severity of convulsions in young (20-27 days old) DBA/2 mice. However, the effect of these antagonists varied in older (30-37 days old) mice. Ketanserin, 5-HT2 receptor antagonist, was devoid of any activity on audiogenic seizures. Yohimbine (0.5 mg/kg, i.p.), an alpha 2-adrenoceptor antagonist, increased the severity of audiogenic seizures, and the anti-convulsant effect of 5-HT receptor subtypes antagonists became more pronounced in the presence of yohimbine. 5-HT3 and 5-HT4 receptor antagonists produced hypolocomotor activity in young mice whereas 5-HT1c and 5-HT2 receptor antagonists were devoid of any effect on locomotor activity. Yohimbine did not induce any effect on locomotor activity but the mice exhibited more pronounced hypolocomotor activity following the administration of 5-HT3, 5-HT4 and 5HT1c receptor antagonists in the presence of yohimbine. However, the results varied with these agents in the older mice. These observations implicate a role of 5-HT1c, 5-HT3, 5-HT4 and alpha 2-adrenoceptors in audiogenic seizures in young DBA/2 mice, and 5-HT3 and 5-HT4 receptors in locomotor activity in these mice. Furthermore, these results also suggest an interaction between 5-HT receptors and alpha 2-adrenoceptors, and differential development patterns of various 5-HT receptor subtypes in the CNS.

Effects of long-term aldrin administration on seizure susceptibility of rats

The effects of long-term administration of sub-convulsive doses of aldrin, an organochlorinated pesticide, on seizure susceptibility of rats were studied. Results show that treatment with the pesticide made the rats more susceptible to sound-induced seizures; an increment in post-seizure depression time after maximal electroshock administration was also observed in aldrin-treated animals. Aldrin administration displaced the control dose-response curves constructed for amphetamine and pentylenetetrazol to the left and right, respectively; no differences were detected between control and aldrin-treated rats for strychnine, picrotoxin or 3-mercaptopropionic acid. The results, discussed in the light of the effects of aldrin on biogenic amines or on the electrophysiology of neurones suggested an involvement of both noradrenergic and alteration excitability of the CNS with the observed increments on seizure susceptibility.

Circadian rhythms and temporal structure of the susceptibility to tonic-clonic seizures in the mouse

A circadian paradigm of susceptibility to tonic-clonic convulsions was established for two strains of mice. This research dealt with rhythmometric methods for estimating the main circadian parameters characterizing the temporal structure of these behavioral phenomena. Such experiments provided a quantitative approach for studying some neurobiological mechanisms regulating the seizure susceptibility.

Blockade of audiogenic seizures by bromocryptine

In 21-day-old DBA/2H mice, bromocryptine (5 mgKg-1) induces great reduction of total and lethal audiogenic seizures. This effect increases with time during the first hour after injection. In mice pretreated with spiroperidol (0.5 mgKg-1), bromocryptine fails to produce this protective effect. These results suggest that dopaminergic pathways may be involved in inhibition of audiogenic seizures.

Catecholamines and convulsions

Severe depletion of brain noradrenaline and separately of brain dopamine was induced in rats by intracerebral injection of the selective neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine, and the susceptibility of the treated animals to various seizure-inducing manipulations was examined. A significant potentiation of the seizures induced both by Metrazol and by electroconvulsive shock was found in animals depleted of brain noradrenaline, but no alteration was seen after depletion of brain dopamine on either measure. The catecholaminergic drug cocaine also induced seizures, but these were found not to depend on either brain noradrenaline or dopamine as they continued to occur in the virtual absence of either catecholamine. It is concluded that cocaine induces seizures by a non-specific toxic mechanism and that noradrenaline, but not dopamine, is involved in reducing the suceptibility of the central nervous system to the several distinct forms of seizure induction examined.

The influence of intraperitoneally injected 6-hydroxydopamine on electroshock seizure in chicks and rats

1. 6-Hydroxydopamine, injected intraperitoneally in rats and chicks, did not induce spontaneous seizures but produced significant alterations in the threshold to electroshock seizure in chicks; the particular effects were dose-dependent and time-dependent. 2. Administration of 6-hydroxydopamine to 3 day old chicks and rats in the first and third days after birth resulted in an increase in the proportion exhibiting tonic seizure with electroshock when tested after 10-12 weeks. 3. When 6-hydroxydopamine was injected intraperitoneally into adult rats and cocks, there was no significant alteration in seizure threshold. 4. The results suggest that 6-hydroxydopamine penetrates the central nervous system of young chicks and rats and that adrenergic mechanisms are probably involved in modulating seizure mechanisms in both the chick and rat.

Depletion of brain noradrenaline, but not dopamine, by intracerebral 6-hydroxydopamine potentiates convulsions induced by electroshock

Intracerebral injection in rats of 4 microgram of the catecholamine neurotoxin 6-hydroxydopamine was used to deplete forebrain noradrenaline to less than 10% of control values and separately to deplete brain dopamine to less than 15% of control. The susceptibility of these animals to electroconvulsive shock-induced convulsions was examined, and a significant potentiation of the response was seen in the rats depleted of noradrenaline but not in those depleted of dopamine. The duration of the convulsion was significantly increased as a result of loss of forebrain noradrenaline.

Effect of intracisternal 6-hydroxydopamine on seizure susceptibility in rats

Rats with 60--70% deficits in brain catecholamines produced by the intracisternal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine were examined by 3 tests of seizure susceptibility. In all procedures (minimal and maximal electroshock and flurothyl convulsions) evidence for increased sensitivity to seizures was obtained. All the animals displayed normal rectal temperature at the times of seizure testing and normal blood chemistry at approximately the time of the third seizure test. These observations strengthen the widely held hypothesis that brain catecholaminergic neurons play a fundamental role in governing sensitivity to convulsions.