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In order to analyze the epileptogenic mechanisms of caffeine and related xanthines, putative effects of these drugs were studied on adenosine receptors of CA3 neurons in hippocampal slices. Epileptogenic concentrations of different xanthine derivatives strongly correlated with their affinities for the inhibitory A1 adenosine receptor subtype. The A1 receptor agonists adenosine and R-PIA reversibly depressed xanthine-induced epileptic activity without effects on the resting membrane potential or on spontaneously occurring action potentials. These findings suggest that the epileptogenic potency of xanthines is primarily due to the blockade of the A1 receptors through an abnormal rise of intracellular cAMP and to the excessive transmembrane calcium fluxes underlying paroxysmal depolarization shifts.

In order to analyze the elementary mechanisms underlying caffeine-induced epileptiform discharges, hippocampal slices of guinea pigs were exposed to this drug. When the bath concentration of caffeine exceeded 0.2 mM, periodically occurring paroxysmal depolarizations (PD) in CA3 neurons appeared. They were accompanied by declines of extracellular free calcium concentration and were suppressed by the organic calcium antagonists verapamil and flunarizine. PD-like fluctuations of the membrane potential could be evoked also in CA3 neurons functionally isolated by tetrodotoxin (TTX). The observations indicate that caffeine-induced PD are generated endogenously and that transmembranous calcium currents contribute to these mechanisms.