Effect of Harmane on the Convulsive Threshold in Epilepsy Models in Mice

A bstract : The study investigated the activity of harmane on maximal electroshock seizures (MES) and seizures induced by pentilentetrazole (PTZ) in mice. Initial studies established convulsive current 50 (CC 50 ) values or MES and effective dose 50 (ED 50 ) for PTZ to produce seizures. Harmane (2.5, 5.0, or 10 mg/kg intraperitoneally) increased the threshold of seizures in MES dose‐dependently. The convulsions produced by PTZ were decreased by the low dose of harmane (2.5 mg/kg), but the high dose of harmane (10 mg/kg) resulted in worse grade V convulsions followed by more lethality compared with PTZ alone. Therefore, harmane seems to be protective against grand mal seizures in the MES model but not against a petit mal seizure model (PTZ) in mice.