Sucrose ingestion decreases seizure onset time in female rats treated with lithium and pilocarpine.
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Резюме
To extend previous work concerning diet and overt seizures in rats, we tested the hypothesis that ingestion of 10% sucrose-water could reduce seizure onset time (SOT) in rats given lithium and pilocarpine. We found that female but not male rats given free access to a 10% sucrose-water solution for 3 weeks exhibited shorter SOTs than age- and sex-matched control subjects. A separate experiment determined that SOT was significantly reduced whether female rats were provided 1, 2, 3, or 4 weeks of free access to sucrose. Moreover, the daily volume of sucrose ingested was significantly correlated (r=-0.42) with SOT regardless of the duration of sucrose treatment (in weeks). These findings suggest that a diet supplemented with sugar can facilitate the emergence of behavioral seizures in female rats given lithium and pilocarpine. We discuss the potential role of dopamine in mediating the sucrose-induced changes in SOT.