Effects of agomelatine on electrocorticogram activity on penicillin-induced seizure model of rats

Publication date: 18 January 2019Source: Neuroscience Letters, Volume 690Author(s): M.S. Ethemoglu, S. Kutlu, F.B. Seker, C.S. Erdogan, C.A. Bingol, B. YilmazAbstractAgomelatine is a new antidepressant drug acting as an antagonist of 5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 2C (5-HTR2C) and agonist of melatonergic receptors 1 and 2 (MT1 and MT2). Because of this dual action, it is an atypical antidepressant. The aim of this study was to investigate chronic anticonvulsant effects of agomelatine on penicillin-induced epilepsy model. Adult male Sprague–Dawley rats divided into four groups and were administered with tap water (vehicle), and agomelatine doses of 10 mg/kg, 50 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg for 14 days via oral gavage. After the last doses were given, epileptic seizures were induced by intracortical penicillin (500 IU/2.5 μl) application in rats under urethane (1.25 g/kg intraperitoneal) anesthesia. Electrocorticogram (ECoG) recordings were obtained from the somatomotor cortex through 90 min, and spike frequencies and amplitudes were analyzed. The spike frequency analyses revealed that only 50 mg/kg agomelatine administration decreased the spike frequencies of hypersynchronous discharge of neurons caused by penicillin (p < 0.05). No significant differences in amplitudes between experimental groups were observed. In addition, mRNA expressions of vesicular glutamate transporter 1 (VGLUT1) and vesicular gamma-aminobutyric acid transporter (VGAT) in response to the ag...
Source: Neuroscience Letters - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research