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Seizure suppression by systemic epinephrine is mediated by the vagus nerve
S E Krahl1, S S Senanayake, A Handforth
1Neurology Service, West Los Angeles VA Medical Center, California 90073, USA. scott.krahl@med.va.gov
Epilepsy Research
|January 21, 2000
Abstract:
The present study investigated the seizure-suppressing effects of systemic epinephrine. Rats were injected with epinephrine, and seizures induced with pentylenetetrazol. Seizure severities were significantly reduced 15 min after 1 mg/kg of epinephrine. Severing the subdiaphragmatic vagus nerves abolished this effect, demonstrating that epinephrine-induced seizure suppression is mediated by subdiaphragmatic vagal afferents. The development of novel anti-epileptic drugs that exploit this peripheral pathway may yield new seizure treatments.