The purpose of this study was to determine if aversive effects of alcohol withdrawal could be detected in mice using the place conditioning procedure and whether the GABA(A) receptor antagonist, pentylenetetrazol (PTZ), would increase the aversive effects of alcohol withdrawal and increase the probability of detecting conditioned place aversion. Subjects were alcohol-naïve mice from a specific ...

The effect of a brief pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) convulsive seizure on rat cerebral cortical Ca2+/calmodulin dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) was investigated. By immunoblot, it was found that a single PTZ seizure, lasting less than a minute, caused translocation of CaMKII alpha-subunit (alpha-CaMKII) from the particulate to the soluble fraction for several hours, paralleled by a dramatic loss...

Carnosine (beta-alanyl-l-histidine) has been characterized as a putative neurotransmitter. However, so far, understanding of the role of carnosine in the brain is very limited. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of carnosine on the development of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) kindling seizures and protection against the PTZ kindled seizures in rats. Chemical kindling was elicited ...

Brain cyclooxygenases (COX), the rate-limiting enzyme in prostaglandin synthesis, is rapidly and transiently induced by convulsions in hippocampal and cortical neurons. Previous studies have explored the protective effect of naproxen (non-selective COX-inhibitor) or rofecoxib (selective COX-2 inhibitor) against chemical kindling in mice. With this background, the present study was designed to e...

Mice deficient in the glial water channel aquaporin-4 (AQP4) show decreased cerebral edema and improved neurological outcome following water intoxication or ischemic challenge. In this report, we tested seizure susceptibility in AQP4 mice. AQP4 mice and wild-type controls were given the chemoconvulsant pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) and monitored for seizure activity. At 40 mg/kg PTZ, all wild-type mi...

The effects of a single convulsive dose of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ, 45 mg/kg i.p.) on rat brain gamma-aminobutyric acid type A (GABAA) receptors were studied. Selected GABAA receptor subunit mRNAs were measured by Northern blot analysis (with beta-actin mRNA as a standard). Four hours after PTZ, the GABAA receptor gamma2-mRNA was decreased in hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and cerebellum; alpha1-...

The present study investigated whether the expression of the cAMP response element-binding protein (CREB) in the rat brain is altered following an acute self-limited seizure induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ). Male rats were injected intraperitoneally with a single convulsive dose (45 mg/kg) of PTZ, and the matched controls were given saline. For immunohistochemistry, animals were perfused with...

OBJECTIVE Seizures are one of the neurodegenerative disorders of human being. Metformin has antioxidant properties and commonly used as an oral antidiabetic drug. The current study was aimed to observe the neuroprotective effect of metformin against PTZ-induced apoptotic neurodegeneration in human cortical neuronal cell culture. METHODS To observe that exposure of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) at t...

Neuron restrictive silencer factor (NRSF), also known as repressor element-1 silencing transcription factor, has been reported to modulate neuronal excitability and acts as endogenous anticonvulsant in kainic acid-induced or kindling-evoked seizure activity. However, whether NRSF functions in pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced seizure activity has never been studied. To investigate the role of end...

Objective: To investigate the electroencephalogram (EEG) characteristics, cerebral blood fl ow, glucose metabolism, and pathological characteristics in cats kindled by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ). Methods: Ten adult male cats received intramuscular injections of PTZ at a sub-convulsive dose of 25 mg/kg once daily. Cats were considered to be kindled when a class V or above seizure was observed. Subs...