Potentiation of hyperthermia-induced convulsions in the developing rat by previous treatment with pentylenetetrazol.
Infant rats were subjected to pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsions on alternate days from 5 to 13 days of age. At 17 days of age, their susceptibility to the convulsant effects of hyperthermia was examined. It was found that previous pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsions caused a significant facilitation in the development of hyperthermia-induced convulsions. The development of hyperthermia-induced convulsions was also facilitated in rat pups of a similar age after acute pretreatment with a subconvulsive dose of pentylenetetrazol. The results of this study indicate that cross sensitization between convulsant agents is possible in the developing rat. In addition, although the nervous system of the immature rat is not fully developed, the central substrates of this process evince adultlike characteristics.
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D008297:Male; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats / Q000254:growth & development*; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D003294:Seizures, Febrile / Q000209:etiology*
D010433:Pentylenetetrazole