Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-9pm4c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-26T20:14:49.123Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Anticonvulsant Effects of Vitamin E: A Further Evaluation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 September 2015

Sheldon L. Levy ,
W.M. Burnham ,
A. Bishai  and
Paul A. Hwang
Sheldon L. Levy
Affiliation:
Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
W.M. Burnham*
Affiliation:
Department of Phannacology, University of Toronto, Toronto
A. Bishai
Affiliation:
Department of Phannacology, University of Toronto, Toronto
Paul A. Hwang
Affiliation:
Division of Neurology, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
*
Department of Pharmacology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 1A8
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract:

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Vitamin E (d-α-tocopherol) has proven to be a useful adjunct to anticonvulsant drugs in clinical studies. Improvement has occurred even in patients with complex partial seizures, which are often resistant to drug therapy. In animals, vitamin E is effective against ferrous chloride seizures, hyperbaric oxygen seizures and penicillin-induced seizures. It has failed, however, to show anticonvulsant effects in the standard animal models used for drug screening – the maximal electroshock and threshold pentylenetetrazol tests. The present experiments were designed to further explore the anti-epileptic actions of vitamin E in animals. Three models related to complex partial epilepsy were used: 1) the development of amygdala-kindled seizures; 2) the development of electrically-induced status in kindled animals; and 3) the development of kainic-acid seizures. Vitamin E failed to produce significant effects in any of the models.

Type
Articles
Information
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences , Volume 19 , Issue 2 , May 1992 , pp. 201 - 203
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Neurological Sciences Federation 1992

References

1.Horwitt, MK.The vitamins: vitamin E. In: Goodhart, S and Shils, ME, eds. Modern Nutrition in Health and Disease. Philadelphia: Lea and Febiger 1979.Google Scholar
2.Machlin, LJ.Vitamin E: A Comprehensive Treatise. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc. 1980.Google Scholar
3.Ogunmekan, AO and Hwang, PA.A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial of d-α-tocopherol acetate (vitamin E), as add-on therapy, for epilepsy in children. Epilepsia 1989; 30: 84–89.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
4.Tassinari, CA and Roger, J.Prognosis and therapy of complex partial seizures with barbiturates, hydantoins and other drugs. In: Penry, JK and Daly, DD, eds. Complex Partial Seizures and their Treatment. New York: Raven Press 1975.Google Scholar
5.Levy, S, Burnham, WM and Hwang, PA.An evaluation of the anticonvulsant effects of vitamin E. Epilepsy Res. 1990; 6: 12–17.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
6.Rubin, JJ and Willmore, LJ.Prevention of iron-induced epileptiform discharges in rats by treatment with antiperoxidants. Exp Neurol 1980; 67: 472–480.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7.Willmore, LJ and Rubin, JJ.Antiperoxidant pretreatment and ironinduced epileptiform discharges in the rat: EEG and histopathologic studies. Neurology 1981; 31: 63–69.Google ScholarPubMed
8.Willmore, LJ and Rubin, JJ.Effects of antiperoxidants on FeChinduced lipid peroxidation and focal edema in rat brain. Exp Neurol 1984; 83:62–70.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
9.Willmore, LJ, Triggs, WJ and Gray, JD.The role of iron-induced hippocampal peroxidation in acute epileptogenesis. Brain Res 1986; 382: 422–426.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10.Jerrett, SA, Jefferson, D and Mengel, CE.Seizures, H202 formation and lipid peroxides in brain during exposure to oxygen under high pressure. Aerospace Med 1973; 44: 40–44.Google Scholar
11.Kryzhanovskii, GN, Nikushkin, EV, Barasalvskii, VE, et al. Lipid peroxidation in a focus of hyperactivity in the rat cerebral cortex. Ekspernoi Biol i Med 1980; 89: 14–16.Google Scholar
12.Krall, RL, Penry, JK, White, BG, et al. Antiepileptic drug development: II anticonvulsant drug screening. Epilepsia 1978; 19: 409–428.Google ScholarPubMed
13.Burnham, WM.Anticonvulsants and the kindling model: a critical analysis. In: Morrell, F, ed. Kindling and Synaptic Plasticity: the Legacy of Graham Goodard. Cambridge: Birkhauser-Boston 1991.Google Scholar
14.Mclntyre, DC, Nathanson, D and Edson, N.A new model of partial status epilepticus based on kindling. Brain Res 1982; 250: 53–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
15.Nadler, JV.Kainic acid as a tool for the study of temporal lobe epilepsy. Life Sci 1981; 29: 2031–2042.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
16.Racine, RJ.Modification of seizure activity by electrical stimulation: II. Motor seizure. Electroencephalogr Clin Neurophysiol 1972; 32:281–294.Google ScholarPubMed
17.Snedecor, GW and Cochran, WG.Statistical methods. Ames, Iowa: The Iowa State University Press 1967.Google Scholar
18.Ogunmekan, AO.Vitamin E deficiency in animals and man. Can J Neurol Sci 1978; 6: 43–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
19.Ogunmekan, AO.Relationship between age and vitamin E level in epileptic and normal children. Am J Nutr 1979; 32: 2269–2271.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
20.Higashi, A, Tamari, H, Ikeda, T, et al. Serum vitamin E concentration in patients with severe multiple handicaps treated with anticonvulsants. Pediatr Pharmacol (New York) 1980; 1: 129–134.Google ScholarPubMed
21.Ogunmekan, AO.Plasma vitamin E levels in apparently normal children and epileptic children with and without anticonvulsant drug therapy. Trop Geog Med 1985; 37: 175–177.Google ScholarPubMed