Brain amines and spontaneous epileptic seizures in the Mongolian gerbil.

The seizure sensitive (WJL)UC) strain of Mongolian gerbils has been used to investigate the effects of drugs that modify central monoamine activity on spontaneous epileptiform seizures. Increasing central norepinephrine and dopamine levels significantly reduced the severity of the seizures and the importance of dopamine was further demonstrated by the protection from seizures after administration of the dopaminergic agonist apomorphine. These data indicate that a search for differences in regional levels, or turnover rates, of these amines between seizure sensitive and seizure resistant strains of gerbils might be profitable in determining the genetic deficit underlying the seizure phenomenon in these animals.