Antimuscarinic-induced convulsions in fasted rats after food intake: EEG patterns of fasting, scopolamine treatment, and convulsions

Abstract

Objective: antimuscarinic treatment in fasted mice and rats causes clonic convulsion soon after food intake. This study was designed to evaluate the electrophysiological markers of these convulsions and fasting in electrocorticograms in rats. Methods: Male Wistar albino rats were stereotaxically implanted with 10 cortical electrodes, and baseline electroencephalogram recordings were taken for 10 minutes. After weighing, rats were deprived of food for 52 hours. At the 24th and 52nd hours of deprivation, continuous electroencephalogram recordings were repeated. After the deprivation period, animals were treated with saline or scopolamine (3 mg/kg). Twenty minutes after injections, animals were given food pellets. After eating food, electroencephalogram recordings were taken for 60 minutes and all animals were observed simultaneously to determine the incidence and onset of convulsions. Results: these results show that food deprivation for 52 hours decreased the amplitude of the gamma band when compared to basal (P <.05) and 24 hours (P <.008) food deprivation. And the amplitude of the beta band in the 52nd hour decreased when compared to the 24th hour of food deprivation (P <.05). The treatment with scopolamine changes the effects of food deprivation on the electroencephalogram. As a typical epileptiform manifestation, refeeding after scopolamine treatment caused a series of high-voltage polyspikes and synchronized spikes with a predominant frequency in the 1-3 Hz range. Conclusions: it was revealed that the behavioral patterns of rats and the electroencephalogram properties in these convulsions are in accordance with each other.