Postictal refractoriness may be taken as an expression of lasting activity of inhibitory systems arresting seizures. We tested drugs interfering with GABAergic inhibitory system in pairs of cortical epileptic afterdischarges induced with 1-min interval in rats. Under control conditions the second stimulation failed to elicit an afterdischarge. This postictal refractoriness was not affected by antagonists of GABAA receptors acting at three binding sites (bicuculline, picrotoxin, benzodiazepine inverse agonist Ro 19-4603) as well as by a less specific antagonist pentetrazol. In contrast, antagonist of GABAB receptors CGP35348 partially blocked the refractoriness. Cooperation of different inhibitory systems is probably necessary to abolish postictal refractoriness in neocortex. This article is part of the Special Issue entitled 'GABAergic Signaling in Health and Disease'.

Department of Developmental Epileptology Institute of Physiology Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Prague Czech Republic

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Epilepsy Research in the Institute of Physiology of the Czech Academy of Sciences in Prague

Adenosine A1 Receptors Participate in Excitability Changes after Cortical Epileptic Afterdischarges in Immature Rats

Methodological standards for in vitro models of epilepsy and epileptic seizures. A TASK1-WG4 report of the AES/ILAE Translational Task Force of the ILAE