NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS, cilt.14, sa.3, ss.141-146, 1994 (SCI-Expanded)
Recent evidence suggests that insulin not only induces indirect effects due to hypoglycemia but produces direct effects in the central nervous system as well. The present study was undertaken to evaluate a possible direct anti seizure activity of insulin against two drug-induced in vivo seizure models. The hypoglycemic dose response relationship of insulin revealed that 0.1 U/kg insulin was ineffective to produce any change on blood glucose levels. This dose of insulin was found to significantly improve the seizure parameters tested. 3 g/kg glucose was simultaneously administered with 1.0 U/kg insulin into mice to counteract the hypoglycemic effect of insulin and thus to maintain a normoglycemic state. This combination was also shown to improve the seizure parameters tested better than 0.1 U/kg and 1.0 U/kg insulin alone. The outcome of 0.1 U/kg insulin and 3 g/kg glucose combination is representative of an additive anti seizure effect due to the combined effects of exogenous and endogenous insulin. Contrarily, insulin was found to be ineffective (1.0 U/kg+ 3 g/kg glucose) against strychnine seizures. The results were discussed regarding the possible central role of insulin in seizure modulation.