Suppression of pentylenetetrazol-induced seizures by carnitine in mice.

When ddY mice were pretreated with L-carnitine (5, 10 or 20 mmol/kg), clonic as well as tonic seizures induced by pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) were dose-dependently suppressed. A time/response study (PTZ was injected 1, 5, 15 or 30 min after L-carnitine) showed that the anticonvulsive effects were apparent when the interval between L-carnitine and PTZ administration was 15-30 min. Saline containing 43% sucrose prolonged the latency to the first clonic seizure but was less effective than 20 mmol/kg L-carnitine and did not suppress clonic or tonic seizures. Alterations in brain energy metabolites caused by PTZ including increase of lactate and decrease of ATP and phosphocreatine were also suppressed by L-carnitine. L-carnitine was more potent than D-carnitine in prolonging the latency to the first clonic seizure and in decreasing the frequency of clonic as well as tonic seizures. The anticonvulsive effects of L-carnitine in PTZ-induced seizures may be unrelated to the transport of long-chain acyl CoA since they were not interfered with by D-carnitine.