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Neuropeptides play an important role in the pathogenesis of epilepsy. In the present study, the effect of nesfatin‑1, a neuropeptide, was investigated on penicillin‑induced epilepsy model. Epileptiform activity was induced by an injection of penicillin into the somatomotor cortex at 56 albino Wistar rats. Nesfatin‑1 (i.c.v.) was administered at five different doses (12.5, 25, 50, 100, and 200 pmol) 30 min after a penicillin administration. Astressin 2B, a corticotropin‑releasing factor (CRF) receptor antagonist, was administered 10 minutes later the effective dose of nesfatin‑1 (50 pmol, i.c.v.). Superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione (GSH), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), glutathione reductase (GR) and malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in cerebrum were analysed by ELISA method. Nesfatin‑1, at the doses of 25, 50 and 100 pmol, significantly reduced the frequency of epileptiform activity. However, none of the doses of nesfatin‑1 had any effect on the amplitude of epileptiform activity. Astressin 2B alone did not show any effect on epileptiform activity. In addition, astressin 2B had no effect on the anticonvulsant effect of nesfatin‑1. Nesfatin‑1 (at the doses of 25, 50, 100 pmol) did not alter SOD and GSH levels, but significantly increased the GPx and GR levels. Nesfatin‑1 (at a dose of 50 pmol) significantly decreased the MDA level in the cerebrum. Nesfatin‑1 shows anticonvulsant effect and astressin 2B did not affect the anticonvulsant effect of nesfatin‑1. We suggest that nesfatin‑1 has oxidative stress‑mediated anticonvulsant effect in the penicillin‑induced epileptic activity.

Regular exercise and amino acid supplementation, popular approaches toward the reduction of epileptic seizures, have been extensively researched. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of treadmill exercise and L-tyrosine treatment on the frequency and amplitude of epileptiform activity in rats. A total of 32 male albino Wistar rats were randomly divided into four groups: control, exercise, L-tyrosine, and exercise + L-tyrosine. L‑tyrosine was supplemented by oral gavage (500 mg/kg/day, 2.5 mL solution). The treatments were performed 5 days a week for 10 weeks. The rats were anesthetized and then administered 500 IU penicillin into the left cerebral cortex using a microinjector and electrocorticogram (ECoG) activity was recorded for 3 hours using a Power Lab data acquisition system. The frequency and the amplitude of the ECoG recordings were analyzed offline. Compared to the control group, spike frequency decreased significantly in all other groups. There was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of spike amplitude and latency. In this study, the effects of regularly administered treadmill exercise and L-tyrosine use on epileptiform activity were examined and evaluated together for the first time. The results of this study showed that regular exercise and L-tyrosine use decreased epileptiform activity. Further research and clinical trials are needed to investigate the extent to which L-tyrosine and physical activity interfere with the epileptic state by investigating different doses of L-tyrosine and different severity/ time/type of exercise protocols.

Involvement of minocycline in stages of infection, neuroprotection, and inflammation is well known. However, the effect of minocycline on various rat brain regions and plasma TAS (total antioxidant status), TOS (total oxidant status) values, and electrophysiology with penicillin-induced epileptiform activity have not been investigated. Here, we examined the electrophysiological effects of different minocycline doses in an experimental epilepsy model that started locally and became generalised. We compared the tissue and plasma TAS-TOS values of the antiepileptic dose of the drug with the control, sham, and drug free epileptic groups. Electrophysiological demonstrations revealed that minocycline has an anticonvulsant effect on penicillin induced epilepsy rats (P<0.05, 0.01 and 0.001) and its effective dose. With biochemical components of the study, it was found that minocycline had an antioxidant effect on serum and brain tissues of rats with penicillin induced epilepsy (P<0.05, 0.01). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]