Reversal of the anticonvulsant effects of diazepam on amygdaloid-kindled seizures by a specific benzodiazepine antagonist: RO 15-1788.

The benzodiazepine antagonist RO 15-1788 was tested in an animal model of experimental epilepsy, the kindling effect. In animals fully kindled from repeated electrical amygdaloid stimulation, RO 15-1788 reversed the anticonvulsant effects of diazepam (2 mg/kg) from doses of 0.4-0.5 mg/kg. Doses up to 20 mg/kg also antagonized the preventive action of diazepam. RO 15-1788 alone had neither proconvulsant effects on the amygdaloid afterdischarges nor benzodiazepine-like activity on the kindled seizures.