Amino acid content of the brain in rats focal penicillin induced epilepsy

The initial objective of the present study was to investigate the role of excitatory and inhibitory amino acids in generalized as compared to focal epilepsy, both forms being induced by the same convulsant agent, i.e. penicillin. Our attempts to obtain in the rat the generalized epilepsy, constantly induced in cats by systemic administration of penicillin, were unsuccessful. This is probably due to the rudimentary development of the cerebral cortex in rodents as compared to the feline cortex. The tentative conclusion was drawn that the cortex is the brain structure mainly involved in the genesis of petit mal seizures. Penicillin was applied to the cortex of 40 white Wistar rats and the electrical cortical activity was registered. The concentrations of glutamate, aspartate, glycine, GABA and serine were determined in the cerebral cortex, the brain stem and the cerebellum. The same amino acids were determined in the brain of 20 controls. No significant changes in the amino acid contents were obtained in the cerebral cortex. In the brain stem the glutamate level was significantly increased while the glycine content was markedly decreased. These findings are consistent with the involvement of the brain stem structures in seizure activity.