Scopolamine-induced convulsions in fasted mice after food intake: effects of glucose intake, antimuscarinic activity and anticonvulsant drugs

The present study was performed to further evaluate the contribution of antimuscarinic activity and hypoglycaemia to the development of scopolamine-induced convulsions in fasted mice after food intake. The effects of anticonvulsant drugs on convulsions were also evaluated. Antimuscarinic drugs atropine (3 mg/kg) and biperiden (10 mg/kg) were given intraperitoneally (i.p) to animals fasted for 48 h. Like scopolamine, both drugs induced convulsions after animals were allowed to eat ad libitum. Another group of animals was given glucose (5%) in drinking water during fasting. These animals, although they had normoglycaemic blood levels after fasting, also developed convulsions after treated with scopolamine i.p. (3 mg/kg), atropine (3 mg/kg) or biperiden (10 mg/kg) and allowed to eat ad libitum. Among the drugs studied, only valproate (340 mg/kg), gabapentin (50 mg/kg) and diazepam (2.5 and 5 mg/kg) markedly reduced the incidence of scopolamine-induced convulsions. The present results indicate that antimuscarinic activity, but not hypoglycaemia, underlies these convulsions which do not respond to most of the conventional anticonvulsant drugs.