ISOFLURANE ANESTHESIA: A NEW POSSIBILITY FOR STATUS EPILEPTICUS CESSATION IN THE PILOCARPINE MODEL OF TEMPORAL LOBE EPILEPSY?

The pilocarpine model of temporal lobe epilepsy is widely utilized by research groups throughout the world, replicating relevant pathophysiological mechanisms such as hippocampal sclerosis and hardly controlled epileptic seizures. Despite successfully mimetizing the neurological condition, this model comes with significantly high mortality rates. It is evident that induction of status epilepticus (SE) by pilocarpine injection itself might lead to death, but ineffective termination of seizures is also a significant cause of mortality. A variety of drugs, such as diazepam, phenobarbital and thiopental, are used for this rescue. However, our group observed that the interruption of SE by thiopental administration was not accomplished for a significant number of animals. Given that, we here propose the utilization of isoflurane – a volatile general anesthetic agent that influences GABAergic neurotransmission – for SE cessation.