Orexins increase penicillin-induced epileptic activity
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Updated: May 24, 2026

Manipulation of Epileptiform Electrocorticograms (ECoGs) and Sleep in Rats and Mice by Acupuncture
Published on: December 22, 2016
Selim Kortunay1, Haydar Ali Erken, Gülten Erken
1Pamukkale University, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Pharmacology, Denizli, Turkey.
Abstract:
Orexins have been implicated with physiological function including sleep-wake cycle, energy homeostasis, drinking behavior, analgesia, attention, learning and memory but their effects on excitability are controversial. We investigated the effects of intracortical injections of orexin A (100 pmol) and B (100 pmol) on the electrophysiological manifestation of epileptic seizures induced by cortical penicillin application in adult male rats. In comparison to saline, orexin A and B enhanced significantly the spike number, spike amplitude and spectral power values induced by cortical penicillin. Our findings indicates that orexins enhances the hyperexcitable and hypersyncronic cortical epileptic activity induced by focal application of penicillin-G.
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