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Updated: Jun 2, 2026

Electrophoretic Delivery of γ-aminobutyric Acid (GABA) into Epileptic Focus Prevents Seizures in Mice
Published on: May 16, 2019
Gabapentin reduces infarct volume but does not suppress peri-infarct depolarizations
Ulrike Hoffmann1, Jeong Hyun Lee, Tao Qin
1Neurovascular Research Laboratory, Department of Radiology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, Massachusetts 02129, USA.
Abstract:
Spreading depression (SD) is an intense depolarization wave implicated in brain injury. In focal ischemia, recurrent peri-infarct depolarization (PID) waves akin to SD worsen the ischemic injury by exacerbating the blood flow-metabolism mismatch. We recently showed that gabapentin suppresses SD. We, therefore, tested gabapentin on PIDs and stroke outcome. Gabapentin pretreatment (200 mg/kg, intravenously) reduced the infarct volume by 23% after transient focal ischemia in mice. However, the frequency and duration of PIDs were not suppressed when recorded for 2 hours during ischemia, suggesting that gabapentin reduces infarct volume independent of PID suppression.
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