Some solvents for antiepileptics have proepileptic potencies in the WAG/Rij rat model for absence epilepsy.

Some solvents for antiepileptics were tested, for 4 consecutive days, in a rat model (the WAG/Rij inbred strain) for absence epilepsy. Electroencephalogram registrations and behavioral observations suggested that both Tween-80 and a mixture of saline/ethanol/propylene glycol caused an increase in the number of epileptic phenomena. This increase was not significant and restricted to injection day 1 with Tween-80 but was significantly present during all 4 injection days with the saline/ethanol/propylene glycol mixture. Furthermore, with this latter solvent the increase became larger during consecutive days. Because of the proepileptic potencies and the differential time effects of these solvents, their usage should be seriously questioned.