THE ANTICONVULSANT EFFECT OF CITALOPRAM ON E1 MICE, AND THE LEVELS OFTRYPTOPHAN AND TYROSINE AND THEIR METABOLITES IN THE BRAIN

Serotonin(5-HT) plays an important role in the seizures of El mice sin ce the seizure threshold of El mice correlates with the 5-HT concentra tion in the central nervous system. In this study, the anticonvulsant effect of a 5-HT reuptake blocker, citalopram, was evaluated behaviora lly and biochemically. El mouse convulsions were inhibited by oral adm inistration of citalopram for 2 weeks. Citalopram increased tryptophan and tyrosine amounts, and decreased the 5-HT, 5-hydroxy-indoleacetic acid, kynurenine, and dopamine amounts in the brain. These findings sh ow that citalopram depresses monoaminergic metabolism. Given the known convulsant effect of kynurenine, it is suggested that its decrease by citalopram may involve attenuation of El mice seizures.