Anticonvulsant effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D in chemically induced seizures in mice

Here, we study the role of a neurosteroid hormone Vitamin D in epilepsy. To examine this problem, we used 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D, an active form of Vitamin D, injected subcutaneously to NMRI mice (33 μg/20 μl) 40 min prior to seizures induced by systemic injection of pentylenenetrazole (PTZ, 70 mg/kg). Overall, compared to the vehicle-treated control animals (n = 11 in each group), the Vitamin D-treated mice demonstrated reduced severity of PTZ-induced seizures (longer latency, shorter duration and lower mortality). In a separate experiment, we assessed the time-course of antiepileptic effects of 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D. For this, we injected this compound (33 μg/20 μl) to NMRIx129S1 mice (n = 11) 40 min, 3, 6, 12 and 24 h prior to seizures, showing that antiepileptic effects were short-term, almost disappearing 3 h after administration. Our findings show that Vitamin D plays a direct anticonvulsant role in the brain and suggest that the Vitamin D endocrine system may represent a new target for the development of anticonvulsant drugs.