Effects of the Novel Anticonvulsant Levetiracetam on the Content of Monoamines and their Main Metabolites in the Brain Structures of Rats of the Krushinskii-Molodkina Strain

摘要

We have studied the effects of levetiracetam, a novel anticonvulsant drag, on the content of monoamines and their metabolites in the frontal cortex, hypothalamus, striatum, and medulla of rats of the Krushinskii-Molodkina strain using the HPLC technique with electrochemical detection. The anticonvulsive effect of intraperitoneal injection of levetiracetam (80 mg/kg) was accompanied by an increase in the content of dihydroxyphenylacetic and homovanillic acids and/or changes in the rate of dopamine turnover in all the structures studied. The parameters of the norepinephrine- and serotonergic systems remained unchanged. Keeping the data on the abnormalities in the dopaminergic system in epilepsy-prone Krushinskii-Molodkina rats in mind, it is possible to conclude that this system plays an important role in the mechanism of the anticonvulsant effect of levetiracetam.