Antiepileptic and prophylactic effects of tetrahydrocannabinols in amygdaloid kindled cats.

Acute administration of delta8-tetrahydrocannabinol (delta8-THC) or delta9-THC failed to affect partially developed or fully developed kindled amygdaloid seizures in cats. However, delta9-THC was quite effective in suppressing focal AD in the stimulated amygdala when administered very early in kindling, before the development of any clinical manifestations. This finding suggested that chronic administration of delta9-THC during kindling might block the process of seizure development, which was supported by the observation that three of four cats failed to kindle when treated with the drug. The cat that failed to be protected by delta9-THC was also insensitive to the general electroclinical effects of moderately high doses of delta9-THC. The prophylactic activity of delta9-THC is in contrast to the ineffectiveness of diphenylhydantoin, a drug whose anticonvulsant activity is often compared with that of THC.