Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0036572 (seizures)
 80,221 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

A 33-year-old female patient, with a 4-year history of hypertension plus a 3-year history of systemic lupus erythematosus, who had been taking high dosages of corticosteroids, has shown repetitive respiratory infections and congestive heart failure for the past 8 months. Angiocardiography confirmed the diagnosis of aortic insufficiency with aneurysmatic dilation of Valsalva's posterior sinus, ascending aorta of normal diameter and normal coronary arteries. Aortic dissection causing aortic insufficiency due to collapse of aortic leaflets was spotted during the surgery and was corrected by a bovine pericardial tube and suspension of aortic valve. The postoperative (PO) period was complicated by left-sided seizures followed by left hemiparesis and respiratory infection. She was discharged on the 25th PO day with mild left hemiparesis and in functional class I (NYHA), using medicines. We emphasize the need to consider the diagnosis of aortic dissection in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and aortic insufficiency, specially in those who have a history of systemic arterial hypertension and long-term corticosteroid therapy.
Arq Bras Cardiol 1992 Aug
PMID:[Aortic dissection associated with systemic lupus erythematosus]. 134 Nov 57

Seizures elicited by posture change and intraperitoneal administration of convulsants were studied ontogenetically in the Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus). In posture change, the first signs of seizure appeared after age 6 weeks with maximal frequency at 8-9 weeks. Adults developed complex, but stereotyped, seizures. Facial twitch was followed by the generalized convulsion, further progressing to trembling of the limbs and then kicking of the hindlimb (full seizure) after 55 days of age. Pentylenetetrazole induced a seizure similar to the full event in gerbils as young as 37 days of age. The seizure pattern elicited by strychnine or glutamate was different from that of pentylenetetrazole.
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PMID:Intrinsic and drug-induced seizures of adult and developing gerbils. 135 21

Levels of dopamine and norepinephrine were measured in seven brain areas after 60 min of sustained seizure activity induced by intraperitoneal repetitive timed administrations of pentylenetetrazol in rats at 10, 14, 17 and 21 days of postnatal life. The tissue levels of norepinephrine were markedly reduced in the majority of brain structures, except for striatum at 10 and 14 days. Conversely, dopamine concentrations increased in many areas and at various ages, except in cerebral cortex at 10 and 14 days and in midbrain between 14 and 21 days. PTZ seizures induced marked increases over control levels in the rates of glucose utilization, measured by the quantitative autoradiographic [14C]2-deoxyglucose method, in all dopamine- and norepinephrine-innervated areas studied at 10 and 14 days, except in cerebellar cortex at both ages and in frontal cortex and anteroventral thalamus at 14 days. At 17 and 21 days, glucose utilization remained increased over control levels in some areas, mainly in catecholaminergic cell groupings such as substantia nigra, ventral tegmental area and locus coeruleus, but was significantly reduced in cortex, caudate nucleus and thalamus, and similar to control rates in other regions. The present results suggest that pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures lead to a simultaneous increase in functional activity of norepinephrine neurons and an inhibition of dopaminergic-mediated neurons. They also confirm the maturation of connections, of metabolic activity and of neurotransmitter interaction within the brain, occurring mainly during the third week of postnatal life, paralleled by an increased selective vulnerability of some regions to this kind of insult.
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PMID:Effects of pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures on dopamine and norepinephrine levels and on glucose utilization in various brain regions of the developing rat. 141 43

Kindled seizures evoked by electrical stimulation of limbic pathways in the rat induce sprouting and synaptic reorganization of the mossy fiber pathway in the dentate gyrus (DG). To investigate whether seizures evoked by different methods also induce reorganization of this pathway, the distribution of mossy fiber terminals in the DG was examined with Timm histochemistry after systemic administration of pentylenetetrazol, a chemoconvulsant that reduces Cl- mediated GABAergic inhibition. Myoclonic seizures evoked by subconvulsant doses of pentylenetetrazol (24 mg/kg i.p.) were not accompanied by electrographic seizures in the DG, and did not induce mossy fiber sprouting. Generalized tonic-clonic seizures evoked by repeated administration of PTZ (24 mg/kg i.p.) were consistently accompanied by electrographic seizure activity in the DG, and induced sprouting and synaptic reorganization of the mossy fiber pathway. The results demonstrated that repeated generalized tonic-clonic seizures evoked by pentylenetetrazol induced mossy fiber synaptic reorganization when ictal electrographic discharges activated the circuitry of the DG.
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PMID:Activation of the dentate gyrus by pentylenetetrazol evoked seizures induces mossy fiber synaptic reorganization. 145 Sep 33

Genetic epilepsy was studied in Fayoumi epileptic (F.Epi) chickens and in neural chimeras obtained by selective substitution of embryonic brain vesicles of F.Epi donors in normal recipient chickens. Typical motor seizures accompanied by convulsions were evoked by intermittent light stimulation in F.Epi and in chimeras having embryonic substitution of the prosencephalon and the mesencephalon. The motor seizure was less severe in chimeras receiving only the prosencephalon. In the F.Epi, as well as in all the chimeras, the EEG during seizures was characterized by a desynchronized (or a flattening) pattern of activity. F.Epi and chimeras had a lower threshold to Metrazol induced seizures than control chickens. The experimental animals show that, in this model, large prosencephalic and mesencephalic areas are involved in the epileptic disease. The epileptic character of this genetic dysfunction is discussed.
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PMID:Pattern of electroencephalographic activity during light induced seizures in genetic epileptic chicken and brain chimeras. 146 68

A quantitative description of motor seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ, metrazol) was performed. Seizures were induced by PTZ in doses from 40 to 120 mg/kg s.c. in 477 male albino rats of the Wistar strain 7 to 90 days old. Two patterns of seizures were elicited: minimal, i.e. predominantly clonic seizures of facial and forelimb muscles with preserved righting ability, and major, i.e. generalized tonic-clonic seizures with a loss of righting reflex. Minimal seizures could be reliably elicited since the age of 18 days; the CD50 for these seizures did not significantly differ with age. Major seizures were elicited regularly at all developmental stages studied. Their CD50 did not significantly differ among 7-, 12- and 25-day-old rat pups but the value for 18-day-old rats was smaller and for adult animals larger than these three age groups.
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PMID:Pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures in rats: an ontogenetic study. 147 Feb 30

Melatonin, a hormone from the pineal gland, was tested for its anticonvulsant effects in male gerbils. Daily administration of melatonin (25 micrograms injection-1, s.c.) for ten weeks reduced the number and severity of seizures (total convulsion score: 7.67 +/- 1.83 in controls vs 2.47 +/- 0.90 in melatonin-injected animals, p < 0.05) associated with the injection of the convulsant, pentylenetetrazol (PTZ, 60 mg kg-1, s.c.). However, neither 12 weeks of short photoperiod exposure (LD 10:14) nor biweekly administration of melatonin pellets altered PTZ-induced convulsions. Overall, melatonin-injected gerbils were better able to survive and respond to seizures than control animals. No melatonin-injected gerbils died during seizure induction (0/31) while 5 out of 33 control gerbils died after PTZ injection. The mechanism for melatonin's anticonvulsant effects could be due to a direct inhibitory action on neural activity or a conversion of melatonin to an anticonvulsant compound that resembles the kynurenines.
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PMID:Novel anticonvulsant action of chronic melatonin in gerbils. 149 30

1. The effects of chemically induced convulsions, clinically similar to those elicited by electroconvulsive treatment (ECT), on brain regional distribution of neuropeptide Y-, neurokinin A-, substance P- and neurotensin-like immunoreactivities were studied in the rat. 2. Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) and bicuculline (BIC) were used to induce grand mal seizures. Rats were divided into three groups receiving one of the following treatments: Saline, PTZ (45 mg/kg) or BIC (1.5 mg/kg). 3. After sacrifice by focused microwave irradiation, brains were dissected, peptides extracted and measured by specific radioimmunoassays. 4. Repeated grand mal convulsions induced by PTZ, in similarity to ECT, markedly increased NPY-LI concentrations in frontal cortex and hippocampus. In contrast to ECT, no changes in NKA- or SP-LI levels were seen. NT-LI was lowered in striatum. 5. Bicuculline effects were more circumscribed: some animals developed grand mal and died while convulsing (peptides not measured), others did not develop generalized seizures and were sacrificed after the fourth treatment. 6. The results demonstrate a similar effect of PTZ and ECT on regional NPY-LI concentrations and raise the possibility that grand mal, regardless of etiology, is necessary for effects on peptides.
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PMID:Brain neuropeptides: changes by treatment with the convulsants pentylenetetrazole and bicuculline. 149 30

Microinjection of drugs, such as muscimol, into the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNpr) can inhibit several types of experimental seizures. Some findings suggested that this was a result of disinhibition of neurons receiving input from GABAergic nigrotectal cells. Indeed, it was reported that bicuculline methiodide (BMI), infused into the tectal region that was reported to receive nigral input, produced an anticonvulsant effect against maximal electroshock (MES) convulsion. Since previous work had suggested that the anticonvulsant effect of intranigral muscimol depended on the particular experimental seizure used, three different experimental seizures were used in the present study to evaluate the effects of BMI infusion into the tectum. Guide cannulas aimed at the tectal region receiving nigral innervation were stereotaxically implanted in rats a week before testing. Bilateral intratectal infusions of BMI (25 ng/side) had an anticonvulsant effect against MES convulsions, confirming a previous report. In contrast, the same BMI pretreatment worsened convulsions produced by either systemic pentylenetetrazol (40 mg/kg, i.p.) or bicuculline (0.5 mg/kg, i.v.). The effects of intratectal BMI were seizure model-dependent, suggesting different functional interconnections between tectum and those pathways responsible for generalization of MES as compared to PTZ or bicuculline convulsions.
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PMID:Infusion of bicuculline methiodide into the tectum: model specificity of pro- and anticonvulsant actions. 152 25

Previous studies suggest that organic solvents show anticonvulsant and convulsant effects, respectively at low and high doses. In the present study the first experiment was designed to determine low and high doses of injected acute n-hexane, ethyl acetate and toluene in mice through LD50 estimations. In the second experiment, high doses (around LD50) were employed to evaluate the convulsant effects. Finally, the third experiment evaluated the ability of low doses to prevent electroshock- and PTZ-induced convulsions. Results showed that n-hexane increased the severity of the electroshock-induced seizures only at low doses and had no anticonvulsant effects. Ethyl acetate produced generalized clonic seizures and deaths at high doses and was ineffective to prevent electroshock- and PTZ-induced seizures at low doses. Toluene induced forelimb clonus at high doses and protected against electroshock-induced seizures at low doses. Therefore, the biphasic property on convulsant activity seems to be a feature not shared among organic solvents.
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PMID:Anticonvulsant and convulsant effects of organic solvents. 153 82


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