riluzole ameliorates harmaline-induced tremor in rat

introduction: excessive olivo-cerebellar burst-firing occurs during harmaline-induced tremor. we hypothesized that antiglutamatergic agents would suppress harmaline tremor. from this point of view, the aim of current study was to investigate the effects of riluzole on harmaline-induced tremor in rat. material and methods: four groups of wistar rats weighing 80–100 g were injected with harmaline (30 mg/kg i.p.) for inducing experimental tremors. the rats in group 1 served as control, whereas the animals in groups 2, 3 and 4 were also given riluzole intraperitonealy at doses of 2, 4 and 8 mg/kg 30 min before and 90 min after harmaline administration. the onset latency, intensity and duration of tremor were recorded. results: the results of this study demonstrated that riluzole could significantly increase latency period, and reduce duration and intensity of tremor. discussion: it is concluding that pretreatment of riluzole can ameliorate harmaline-induced tremor in rats.