Long-term treatment with carbamazepine affects CSF somatostatin immunoreactivity in epileptic patients

A number of pharmacological evidence supports the view that somatostatin (SS) may be importantly involved in the seizure susceptibility both in humans and in laboratory animals. In a previous report the Authors have provided the finding that a short-term carbamazepine (CBZ) administration is able to reduce SS-CSF-IR in epileptic patients. The present study has been carried out to investigate whether a long-term treatment with CBZ affects in a similar way SS-IR content in CSF from temporal lobe epileptics (CPS). The results confirm and expand previous evidence suggesting that CBZ lowering effect on CSF-SS-IR may be relevant to its anticonvulsivant action.