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Is the persistent sodium current a specific target of anti-absence drugs?

NeuroReport, ISSN: 0959-4965, Vol: 15, Issue: 6, Page: 1049-1052
2004
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Article Description

The persistent Na current (I) has been proposed as the putative target of the anti-absence antiepileptic drugs. Accordingly, the effect of reference anti-absence drugs ethosuximide (ESM) and valproate (VPA), and of the new antiepileptic drug levetiracetam (LEV), on I have been tested in CAI hippocampal neurons and compared to the classic anticonvulsant phenytoin (PHT) and the neuroprotective agent riluzole (RIL). Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of the slowly inactivating current, fully characterized as I, were performed with a standard voltage-step protocol on thin hippocampal slices prepared from rat brain. Both PHT (100 μM) and RIL (10 μM) strongly depressed I, whereas ESM (1 mM) induced a slight decrease of I and VPA (1 mM) had no effect. Likewise, 60-min perfusion with relevant concentrations of LEV (10, 32 or 100 μM) did not modify I. In conclusion, these data question the impact of I depression as an anti-absence mechanz ism, and also discalim the involvement of I in the antiepileptic mechanism of LEV. © 2004 Lippincott Williams & Wilkins.

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