Abstracts

To elusidate an antiepileptic property of gabapentine, we applied this agent to status epilepticus models induced by subcutaneous administration of kainic acid (KA)., Experiments were carried out on 12 male Wistar rats undergone stereotactic implantation of electrodes in the bilateral amygdala, the bilateral dorsal hippocampus, and the bilateral sensorimotor cortex. All received subcutaneous administration of KA (10mg/kg) to elicit status epilepticus. Thirty min after that, gabapentine (dissolved with distilled water, 30mg/mL) was administrated intraperitoneally (2mL/kg) (gabapentine group, n=6), while the rest received intraperitoneal administration of distilled water only (control, n=6)., Ten to 20 min after KA administration, seizure discharges initially appeared in the bilateral amygdala and the bilateral dorsal hippocampus, and then propagated to the bilateral sensorimotor cortex. All rats showed status epilepticus 30 min after KA administration. In gabapentine group, seizure activity of the bilateral sensorimotor cortex decreased 15-30 min after gabapentine administration, whereas those of the bilateral amygdala and hippocampus remained unchanged. Unlike gabapentine group, seizure activity stayed unaltered in control., Gabapentine may show an antiepileptic effect by reducing the seizure propagation to the bilateral sensorimotor cortex.,