Epileptiform discharges induced by combined application of bicuculline and 4-aminopyridine are resistant to standard anticonvulsants in slices of rats.
Application of 4-aminopyridine (4AP) has previously been reported to produce different patterns of epileptiform discharges in entorhinal cortex-hippocampal-slices. Here we describe that 4-AP induced epileptiform activity in the EC becomes insensitive to anticonvulsant drugs (phenytoin, carbamazepine, valproic acid, phenobarbital) when GABAergic transmission is blocked by bicuculline. We propose that the activities induced by 4-aminopyridine and bicuculline may provide an in vitro model for the development of new drugs against difficult-to-treat focal epilepsy.
Institute für Physiologie, Abt. Neurophysiologie, Universitätsklinikum Charité, Medizinische Fakultät der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany. christopher.brueckner@charite.de
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Brückner
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Stenkamp
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Meierkord
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Heinemann
D015761:4-Aminopyridine; D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001640:Bicuculline; D003292:Convulsants; D018728:Entorhinal Cortex / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005071:Evoked Potentials / Q000187:drug effects*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats
D000927:Anticonvulsants; D003292:Convulsants; D015761:4-Aminopyridine; D001640:Bicuculline