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The Anticonvulsant Effects of Alpha-2 Adrenoceptor Agonist Dexmedetomidine on Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Seizures in Rats

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Abstract

Alpha2-adrenoreceptor (α2-AR) is a noradrenergic receptor that is frequently studied for modulation of seizure activity. However, the precise role of this receptor agonists in regulating seizure activity is still unclear. Our aim in this study was to investigate the effects of α2-AR agonist dexmedetomidine (DEX) and atipamezole (α2-AR antagonist, ATI) on seziures in rats. In the study, 32 adult male Wistar Albino rats (weighing 220–260 g) were used. To induce seizures in rats, pentylenetetrazole (PTZ, 35 mg/kg) was injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) and seizure stages were determined according to the Racine scale. After induction of seizures, DEX (0.1 mg/kg, i.p.) and ATI (1 mg/kg, i.p.) were administered to rats and their effects determined on seizures. GABA levels of the brain hippocampal tissue sample were measured using an ELISA kit and c-Fos positive cells of the dentate gyrus and hippocampal regions were quantitatively analyzed with Image J software. The results showed that DEX decreased the seizure stages according to the Racine scale, significantly prolonged the onset time of first myoclonic jerk (FMJ) and reduced the number of spikes and percentage seizure duration (p < 0.05). In contrast, ATI increased the seizure stage, the number of spikes and percentage seizure duration. The hippocampal GABA level was significantly decreased in rats with only PTZ injection (p < 0.05). In addition, DEX reduced the number of c-Fos positive cells in dentate gyrus and the hippocampal CA1 and CA3 regions. In conclusion, our findings showed that α2-AR agonist DEX had a reducing activity on PTZ-induced seizure, while α2-AR antagonist ATI facilitated seizure formation.

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Data availability

The data sets generated during and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was supported by Cumhuriyet University Scientific Research Project, Sivas, Turkey (CUBAP, Grant Number: T-718).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Medical Services and Techniques, Vocational School of Health Services, Sivas Cumhuriyet University, Sivas, Turkey

    Arzuhan Cetindag Ciltas

  2. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Sivas Cumhuriyet University School of Medicine, 58140, Sivas, Turkey

    Ercan Ozdemir, Ahmet Sevki Taskiran & Handan Gunes

  3. Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Aydın Adnan Menderes University, Aydın, Turkey

    Erkan Gumus

  4. Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ondokuz Mayis University, Samsun, Turkey

    Gokhan Arslan

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  1. Arzuhan Cetindag Ciltas
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Correspondence to Ercan Ozdemir.

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Cetindag Ciltas, A., Ozdemir, E., Gumus, E. et al. The Anticonvulsant Effects of Alpha-2 Adrenoceptor Agonist Dexmedetomidine on Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Seizures in Rats. Neurochem Res 47, 305–314 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-021-03445-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11064-021-03445-4

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