The Effect of Carbamazepine on Neuronal Damage in Pentylentetrazole Model of Seizure

Epilepsy is the most common disorder of the central nerves system. Studies showed that carbamazepine has anti-epileptic effects. However, there is no evidence whether carbamazepine protect seizure-induced neuronal injury. In this study, the effects of carbamazepine were evaluated on cell injury observed in pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) model of seizure in the rat brain.
The convulsive behaviour and histological evaluation were performed in age- and weight-matched rats, which were divided into five groups: 1.control group: without any intervention, 2. PTZ group: after PTZ injection (40 mg/ kg), 3. Sham group: vehicles were injected 30 min before PTZ injection (40 mg/ kg), 4. Treatment group 1: carbamazepine (10 mg/kg) was injected 30 min before PTZ injection, 5. Treatment group 2: carbamazepine (40 mg/kg) was injected 30 min before PTZ injection.
Carbamazepine significantly decreased production of the dark neurons in the hippocampal CA1 and CA3 areas and the temporal cortex after PTZ-induced seizure compared to PTZ and sham groups. Density of dark neurons in treatment groups was significantly higher than control group.
The results showed that carbamazepine acts as a neuroprotective substance after seizure attacks.