Electroencephalographic study of the effect of neurotoxin DSP-4 in iron model of chronic focal epilepsy.

The effect of the noradrenergic neurotoxin N-(2-chloroethyl)-N-ethyl-2-bromobenzylamine (DSP-4) on electroencephalographic activity (EEG) was studied in the model of chronic focal epilepsy induced by intracortical injection of FeCl3 in the rat. EEG activity was recorded from the epileptogenic focus (ipsilateral and contralateral) in chronic experiments before and after DSP-4 treatment. In some experiments EEG activity was also simultaneously recorded from the cortical epileptogenic focus and locus coeruleus before and after DSP-4 treatment to study the effect of iron-induced seizure activity and of DSP-4 on the locus coeruleus electrical activity. The results showed that DSP-4 aggravated the iron-induced epileptiform activity as well as the locus-coeruleus electrical activity. The data also showed that, induction of epilepsy by FeCl3 is accompanied by enhancement of the locus coeruleus electrical activity. Our study demonstrates that DSP-4 intensifies and modifies the epileptic activity in the iron-induced chronic epilepsy model and that the effects of toxin persist for a longer duration.