Epileptiformic activity induced by antidepressants in amygdala-kindled rats

The present study was undertaken to investigate the spontaneous epileptiformic activity induced by antidepressants using amygdala-kindled rats. The intraperitoneal injection of imipramine and amitriptyline resulted in potent behavioral and electroencephalogram (EEG)-detected seizures in amygdala-kindled rats compared with those seen in sham rats (non-kindled rats). Almost the same findings were observed with clomipramine and maprotiline. On the other hand, paroxetine caused no or little behavioral or EEG seizures in either amygdala-kindled or sham rats, even at a dose of 50 mg/kg. In conclusion, our results indicate that epileptiformic activity induced by kindling increases the susceptibility to cyclic antidepressant-induced seizures.