CONICET | Buscador de Institutos y Recursos Humanos

After more than a decade, the long-term clinical treatment with the anticonvulsant-antinociceptive drug gabapentin (GBP) is still related to adverse cognitive side effects. The administration of a single dose of GBP immediately after training improves retention performance of mice in an inhibitory avoidance task (IA). On the contrary, when GBP is given twice a day during 7 days, retention performance is impaired. In the present work we used a monolithic implant made of GBP-loaded poly(epsilon-caprolactone) matrices, which allowed the controlled release of the drug. When implants were inserted in a subcutaneous pocket in the side of the mice, immediately after training in the IA task, enhaced memory consolidation. Implants successfully protected against pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures by increasing not only latencies but also by decreasing the duration of convulsions. These results could lead to a clinically relevant conclusion: maintainance of stable GBP plasma levels protects against seizures without causing memory impairment. Hence, the adverse cognitive effects observed in the clinical practice could be avoided by stabilizing plasma levels of the drug.

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