title: Anticonvulsant effect of muscimol injected into the thalamus of spontaneously epileptic Mongolian gerbils.
abstract: Injections of muscimol (12.5 or 25 ng bilaterally), a GABAA agonist, into the posterior nuclei of the thalamus suppressed generalized convulsive seizures in the spontaneously epileptic Mongolian gerbil. This anticonvulsant effect was dose-dependent and was reversed by picrotoxin (10 ng bilaterally), a GABAA antagonist. Bilateral intrathalamic injections of 1-baclofen (50 ng), an agonist of the GABAB receptor, were ineffective in suppressing seizures in this model. These results suggest that GABAergic transmission within the thalamus is involved in the control or the genesis of some generalized convulsive seizures.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles 90024.
authors.forename: R J
authors.initials: RJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Depaulis
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Lomax
authors.forename: R W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Olsen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001418:Baclofen / Q000494:pharmacology; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D005849:Gerbillinae; D008297:Male; D009118:Muscimol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D010852:Picrotoxin / Q000494:pharmacology; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D013787:Thalamic Nuclei / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism / Q000503:physiopathology*
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D001418:Baclofen; D009118:Muscimol; D010852:Picrotoxin; D011963:Receptors, GABA-A