gamma-aminobutyric acid (gaba) is an important inhibitory transmitter in central nervous system and is involved in pathophysiology of epilepsy. pentylenete-trazole (ptz), a convulsant agent, partly acts via anion channel of gabaa receptor. ivermectin, an antiparasitic agent and a gabaa agonist, has anticonvulsant effect in animal seizure models. cholestasis increases the threshold of ptz-induce...

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...

Withania somnifera (ashwagandha) is a widely used herb in the Ayurvedic system of medicine. The objective of the present study was to elucidate the effect of W. somnifera root extract (Ws) alone or in combination with exogenous gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), a GABA receptor agonist or with diazepam, a GABA receptor modulator against pentylenetetrazol (PTZ, iv) seizure threshold in mice. Minim...

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 ...

Lafora disease is a rare form of inherited progressive myoclonus epilepsy caused by mutations in the EPM2A gene encoding laforin, or in the EPM2B gene, which encodes malin. It is characterized by the presence of polyglucosan inclusion bodies (Lafora bodies) in brain and other tissues. Genetically engineered mice lacking expression of either the laforin (Epm2a(-/-) ) or malin (Epm2b(-/-) ) genes...

Alterations in the NO pathway play an important role in the development of convulsive seizures via the glutamatergic and GABAergic systems in acute pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) seizure animals. We previously reported that the background NO levels under physiological conditions negatively regulate convulsive seizures, while excess NO levels under pathologic conditions positively regulate PTZ-induced...

In the PTZ animal model of epilepsy, electrical stimulation applied to the amygdaloid complex may result in either pro-convulsive or anticonvulsant effect, depending on the temporal pattern used (i.e. periodic-PS and non-periodic-NPS electrical stimulation). Our hypothesis is that the anatomical target is a determinant factor for the differential effect of temporally-coded patterns on seizure o...

BACKGROUND Epilepsy is a chief communal health problem. Antiepileptic drugs only provide symptomatic treatment. Walnut Kernels (WK) have high concentrations of phenolic compounds, which have beneficial effects on human health because of their antioxidant and anti-atherogenic properties. The present study was designed to evaluate the efficacy of WK supplementation for the prevention of experimen...

introduction: there is evidence that diabetes affects seizure susceptibility. ginger (zingiber officinale roscoe) which is used in traditional medicine has antioxidant activity and neuroprotective effects. the aim of this study was to evaluate the seizure threshold induced by pentylenetetrazole (ptz) in diabetic mice after induction of diabetes with streptozocin and to examine the possible role...

Despite anticonvulsant efficacy in animal models of generalized epilepsy, levetiracetam was not effective in the maximal subcutaneous PTZ model in mice and rats. Aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of levetiracetam (LEV) against submaximal, s.c. MET test (PTZ at the dose of 70 mg/kg) acute seizures in Wistar rats, in comparison to valproic acid (VPA). Thirty male Wistar rats (P42) were...