Chemical kindling: implications for antiepileptic drugs - sensitive and resistant epilepsy models.

The efficacy of phenobarbital (PB) and phenytoin (PHT) was evaluated against the convulsions in chemically (picrotoxin, PTX) kindled rats. Two protocols were used: assessment of seizures immediately after the completion of the kindling procedure and after the 2-week postkindling PTX-free period, as compared with acute PTX seizures. Kindled convulsions were more sensitive than acute PTX seizures to the antiepileptic action of PB and PHT. On the other hand, the "postkindling state" was characterized by the enhancement of the severity of the convulsions in comparison with both kindled and acute PTX seizures and dramatic increase in the resistance to the action of antiepileptic drugs (AEDs). It is concluded that the two paradigms--kindling proper and "postkindling"--could be applied as models for AED-sensitive and AED-resistant animal epilepsy models correspondingly.