title: Melatonin potentiates the anticonvulsant action of phenobarbital in neonatal rats.
abstract: Phenobarbital is the most commonly utilized drug for neonatal seizures. However, questions regarding safety and efficacy of this drug make it particularly compelling to identify adjunct therapies that could boost therapeutic benefit. One potential adjunct therapy is melatonin. Melatonin is used clinically in neonatal and pediatric populations, and moreover, it exerts anticonvulsant actions in adult rats. However, it has not been previously evaluated for anticonvulsant effects in neonatal rats. Here, we tested the hypothesis that melatonin would exert anticonvulsant effects, either alone, or in combination with phenobarbital. Postnatal day (P)7 rats were treated with phenobarbital (0-40mg/kg) and/or melatonin (0-80mg/kg) prior to chemoconvulsant challenge with pentylenetetrazole (100mg/kg). We found that melatonin significantly potentiated the anticonvulsant efficacy of phenobarbital, but did not exert anticonvulsant effects on its own. These data provide additional evidence for the further examination of melatonin as an adjunct therapy in neonatal/pediatric epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacology & Physiology, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC 20007, United States. Electronic address: paf22@georgetown.edu.
authors.forename: Patrick A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Forcelli
authors.forename: Colin
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Soper
authors.forename: Anne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Duckles
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Gale
authors.forename: Alexei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kondratyev
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004357:Drug Synergism; D004359:Drug Therapy, Combination; D005260:Female; D008550:Melatonin / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D010634:Phenobarbital / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012640:Seizures / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000503:physiopathology
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D008550:Melatonin; D010634:Phenobarbital
keywords: Apoptosis; GABA; Neonatal; Neurprotection; Pentylenetetrazole; Seizure