A GROUP OF COMPOUNDS POSSESSING ANTICONVULSANT ACTIVITY IN THE MAXIMAL ELECTROSHOCK SEIZURE TEST

Abstract

Since the maximal electroshock seizure (MES) test was introduced by Toman et al. (1), many new antiepileptics have been found with this method. The fact that all current drugs effective against grand mal seizure are capable of preventing the tonic-extension component of MES suggests the reliability of this method to search for new antiepileptics.
In recent years, Tanaka (2) reported the anticonvulsant property of procaine, cocaine, adiphenine (Trasentine) and caramiphen (Parpanit) as measured with MES test, and Swinyard et al. (3) found the same activity of diphenhydramine and tripelennamine. On the other hand, Bernhard et al. (4) reported that lidocaine (Xylocaine) was effective in epileptic patients. These observations prompted us to test other local anesthetics, antihistaminics and related structures for the anticonvulsant activity in MES test.