The effect of anticonvulsant drugs on convulsions triggered by direct stimulation of the brainstem.
Brainstem-triggered convulsions are generalized convulsive seizures produced by direct electrical stimulation of the mesencephalic reticular formation. Four anticonvulsant drugs, phenobarbital, phenytoin, trimethadione, and ethosuximide, were tested against brainstem-triggered convulsions in the rat using a standard pharmacological dose-response paradigm. All four drugs proved to be active in small, subtoxic doses, producing a response profile similar to that previously reported for maximal pentylenetetrazol seizures. These results appear consistent with the hypotheses that: (1) the brainstem plays an important role in the production of generalized convulsions; and (2) that anticonvulsant drugs exert major therapeutic effects at the brainstem level.
D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001933:Brain Stem / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D009115:Muridae; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole / Q000494:pharmacology; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
D000927:Anticonvulsants; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole