Developmental changes in seizure susceptibility during ethanol withdrawal

It is has recently been established that adolescence may rep resent a devel opmentally sensitive period with respect to the effects of ethanol, particu larly within the NMDA neurotransmitter system. However, the same may also b e true of the GABA system. There is evidence to suggest that the number of GABA receptors and their kinetics may change across development. The purpos e of this study was to determine if GABA-mediated seizure susceptibility du ring ethanol withdrawal differed between adolescent and adult animals. Resu lts indicate that adult animals pretreated with ethanol were more likely to achieve maximal tonic-clonic seizure activity and spent more time in stage 3 (or higher) seizure activity than all other groups. These data lend addi tional support to the contention that adolescent and adult animals differ i n their susceptibility to the effects of ethanol and that this susceptibili ty is transmitter dependent. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Inc. All rights rese rved.