The pharmacodynamics of anticonvulsant and subconvulsant effects of ethanol in CBA and C57BL/6 mice.

A method of determination of minimal effective doses (MEDs) of bicuculline causing clonic-tonic convulsions (CTC) and tonic extension (TE) was used to investigate ethanol pharmacodynamics in C57BL/6 and CBA mice, differing in levels of alcohol predisposition. It is observed that ethanol produces a powerful anticonvulsant action antagonizing convulsant effects of bicuculline. On a long-term scale, the pharmacological action of alcohol had two phases in both strains of mice: anticonvulsant (in the interval 5 min to 4 h after ethanol administration) and subconvulsant (4-24 h after ethanol administration).