The Effect of General Anesthetics on Genetic Absence Epilepsy in Wag/Rij Rats

Abstract

Aim To establish safe and straightforward anesthesia used in experiments, we examined the effect of ketamine, ketamine/xylazine, urethane, chloral hydrate, pentobarbital, isoflurane, dexmedetomidine, and dexmedetomidine/ketamine on epileptiform activity in genetic absence epilepsy (WAG\Rij) rats. Materials and Method Sixty-three male WAG/Rij rats weighing (170-190 g) were used. Tripolar electrodes were inserted into the skull. After ECoG activities were recorded for each animal for 2 hours as controls, , the anesthetic substances were administered and the recording continued for another 2 hours. All the anesthetic substances were administered intraperitoneally except isoflurane, which was administered by inhalation.The PowerLab system was used for electrophysiological activity recording and analysis. Results The administration of ketamine (90 mg/kg), ketamine/xylazine (90/10 mg/kg), urethane (1.25 g/kg), chloral hydrate (175 mg/kg), pentobarbital (50-90 mg/kg), isoflurane (induction 5%, maintaining 3-4%), dexmedetomidine (0.5-1 mg/kg), and dexmedetomidine/ketamine (50/90 mg/kg), significantly decreased the total number of SWD, the total number of spikes, and the SWD duration (p < 0,05). The mean duration of SWD was not affected in pentobarbital (50-90 mg/kg), isoflurane (induction 5%, maintaining 3-4%), dexmedetomidine (0.5-1 mg/kg), and Dexmedetomidine/ketamine (50/90 mg/kg) groups (p > 0.05). Time scale showed a significant decrease in the total number of SWD in the first 20 minutes (P < 0.001) for all groups except dexmedetomidine (0.5-1 mg/kg), and dexmedetomidine/ketamine (50/90 mg/kg) groups (p > 0.05). Conclusion The anesthetics we used significantly reduced the epileptiform activity immediately after the administration, except dexmedetomidine and dexmedetomidine/ketamine groups, so we recommend using dexmedetomidine and Dexmedetomidine/ketamine in electrophysiological studies accompanied by anesthetics.