Ethosuximide Reduces Mortality and Seizure Severity in Response to Pentylenetetrazole Treatment During Ethanol Withdrawal.

Aims: We recently demonstrated that T-type calcium channels are affected by alcohol abuse and withdrawal. Treatment with ethosuximide, an antiepileptic drug that blocks T-type calcium channels, reduces seizure activity induced by intermittent ethanol exposures and withdrawals. Here, we expand on these findings to test whether ethosuximide can reduce the sensitivity to pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures during ethanol withdrawal.

Ethosuximide reduces electrographical and behavioral correlates of alcohol withdrawal seizure in DBA/2J mice.

Chronic alcohol abuse depresses the nervous system and, upon cessation, rebound hyperexcitability can result in withdrawal seizure. Withdrawal symptoms, including seizures, may drive individuals to relapse, thus representing a significant barrier to recovery. Our lab previously identified an upregulation of the thalamic T-type calcium (T channel) isoform CaV3.

Activation of group 2 metabotropic glutamate receptors reduces behavioral and electrographic correlates of pilocarpine induced status epilepticus.

Novel treatments for epilepsy are necessary because many epilepsy patients are resistant to medication. Metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluRs), specifically mGluR 2 and 3, may serve as antiepileptic drug targets because of their role in controlling synaptic release. In this study, we administered a Group 2 mGluR agonist, LY379268, one of two mGluR2-specific positive allosteric modulators, BINA or CBiPES, or a cocktail of both BINA and LY379268 in a series of experiments using the pilocarpine model of SE.