The anticonvulant effect of cooling in comparison to α-lipoic acid: a neurochemical study.

Brain cooling has pronounced effects on seizures and epileptic activity. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the anticonvulsant effect of brain cooling on the oxidative stress and changes in Na(+), K(+)-ATPase and acetylcholinesterase (AchE) activities during status epilepticus induced by pilocarpine in the hippocampus of adult male rat in comparison with α-lipoic acid. Rats were divided into four groups: control, rats treated with pilocarpine for induction of status epilepticus, rats treated for 3 consecutive days with α-lipoic acid before pilocarpine and rats subjected to whole body cooling for 30 min before pilocarpine. The present findings indicated that pilocarine-induced status epilepticus was accompanied by a state of oxidative stress as clear from the significant increase in lipid peroxidation (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) and significant decrease in reduced glutathione and nitric oxide (NO) levels and the activities of catalase, AchE and Na(+), K(+)-ATPase. Pretreatment with α-lipoic acid ameliorated the state of oxidative stress and restored AchE to nearly control activity. However, Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activity showed a significant decrease. Rats exposed to cooling for 30 min before the induction of status epilepticus revealed significant increases in MDA and NO levels and SOD activity. AchE returned to control value while the significant decrease in Na(+), K(+)-ATPase persisted. The present data suggest that cooling may have an anticonvulsant effect which may be mediated by the elevated NO level. However, brain cooling may have drastic unwanted insults such as oxidative stress and the decrease in Na(+), K(+)-ATPase activity.