[Antiepileptic effects of globulin-N as an intact human immunoglobulin and its tissue-distribution in kindled cats].

The antiepileptic effects of Globulin-N as an intact human immunoglobulin were examined using the amygdaloid kindled animals, which was prepared by the method of Goddard et al (1969) and Wada et al (1974). In the non-treated kindled cats, generalized convulsion (GC) and after-discharge (AD) in amygdala, hippocampus and neocortex was caused synchronously by electrical stimulation with generalized seizure-triggering threshold (GST) at constant intervals of 24 hours. By contrast, in kindled cats treated intravenously with 200 mg/kg Globulin-N, the GC and AD due to the GST-stimulation disappeared entirely for the period 4 to 8 days after medication in 8 out of 10 cases. Further, kindled cats treated with anticonvulsant, phenobarbital or phenytoin inhibited GC and AD to GST-stimulation until 24-48 hours after medication. On the other hand, the plasma half-life of Globulin-N was determined as about 10 days in the kindled cats, and Globulin-N was distributed immunohistochemically not only in the visceral organ-tissues but also in the tissues of the brain and spinal cord. The administered Globulin-N or 14C-human immunoglobulin pass through the blood-brain barrier easily in kindled cats with GST induced-epileptic seizure, and was apparently taken up by the nerve cells and glial cells in the cerebral cortex and other extensive deep structure involved in the central nervous system. These results seem to support the clinical usefulness of Globulin-N in patients with epilepsy (Ariizumi et al, 1982) and also epileptic psychosis.