title: Oral administration of aspartame is not proconvulsant in rats.
abstract: These experiments examined the potential for single or repeated doses of aspartame to exacerbate or facilitate the production of seizures in Fischer-344 rats. In adult animals, 1,000 mg/kg of aspartame given by gavage acutely or over a 14 day period had no significant effect on the rate of kindling induced by stimulation of the prepyriform cortex. A single dose of 1,000 mg/kg of aspartame had no effect on the number of animals developing tonic seizures after electroconvulsive shock, nor did aspartame affect the frequency or duration of seizure activity after pentylenetetrazol. In a second series of studies, young male and female rats were dosed with 1,000 mg/kg of aspartame on day 3-13 or 21-35 of age. Prior exposure to aspartame had no significant effect on the rate of kindling at 90 days of age. These experiments indicate that aspartame does not act a pro-convulsant in rats.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Molecular and Integrative Neuroscience, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina 27709.
authors.forename: H A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Tilson
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Thai
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Zhao
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Sobotka
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Hong
mesh_terms: D000284:Administration, Oral; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D001218:Aspartame / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D003292:Convulsants; D004151:Dipeptides / Q000633:toxicity*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004597:Electroshock; D005260:Female; D007696:Kindling, Neurologic / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced; D014886:Weaning
chemical_list: D003292:Convulsants; D004151:Dipeptides; D001218:Aspartame