title: Anticonvulsant effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in chemically induced seizures in mice.
abstract: Here, we study the role of a neurosteroid hormone Vitamin D in epilepsy. To examine this problem, we used 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, an active form of Vitamin D, injected subcutaneously to NMRI mice (33 microg/20 microl) 40 min prior to seizures induced by systemic injection of pentylenenetrazole (PTZ, 70 mg/kg). Overall, compared to the vehicle-treated control animals (n=11 in each group), the Vitamin D-treated mice demonstrated reduced severity of PTZ-induced seizures (longer latency, shorter duration and lower mortality). In a separate experiment, we assessed the time-course of antiepileptic effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. For this, we injected this compound (33 microg/20 microl) to NMRIx129S1 mice (n=11) 40 min, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h prior to seizures, showing that antiepileptic effects were short-term, almost disappearing 3h after administration. Our findings show that Vitamin D plays a direct anticonvulsant role in the brain and suggest that the Vitamin D endocrine system may represent a new target for the development of anticonvulsant drugs.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Medical School, University of Tampere, Tampere 33014, Finland. avkalueff@inbox.ru
authors.forename: Allan V
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Kalueff
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Minasyan
authors.forename: Pentti
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tuohimaa
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001921:Brain / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D002117:Calcitriol / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003292:Convulsants / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D007279:Injections, Subcutaneous; D051379:Mice; D009026:Mortality; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole / Q000037:antagonists & inhibitors; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D003292:Convulsants; D002117:Calcitriol; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole