Novel long-term anticonvulsant treatment with gabapentin without causing memory impairment in mice

BLAKE, MG; BOCCIA, MM; CARCABOSO AM; CHIAPPETTA, DA; HOCHT, C; KRAWCZYK, MC; SOSNIK, A; BARATTI, CM

EPILEPSY & BEHAVIOR (PRINT)

ELSEVIER

Año: 2010 p. 157 - 164

1525-5050

The administration of a single dose of gabapentin (GBP) immediately after training improves Memory of mice in an inhibitory avoidance task (IA). On the contrary, GBP administered repeatedly during 7 days, impairs memory. This is in accordance with the fact that the long-term clinical treatment with GBP is associated with adverse cognitive side effects. In the present work we used a GBP-loaded poly(e-caprolactone) implant, allowing the controlled release of the drug and the maintenance of constant plasma levels over one week. When GBP-loaded implants were inserted subcutaneously in mice, immediately after training in the IA task, memory consolidation was enhanced. Moreover, GBP released from implants had an anticonvulsant action against PTZ-induced seizures. These results suggest that the maintenance of stable GBP plasma levels could protect against seizures without causing memory impairment. Hence, the adverse cognitive effects might be avoided by stabilizing plasma levels of the drug.