Somatostatin-like immunoreactivity and somatostatin receptor binding in rat brain before and after pentylenetetrazol-induced convulsion.

Wistar rats were injected with a convulsant doze of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) (50 mg/kg, i.p.). Somatostatin-like immunoreactivity (SLI) and 125I-Tyr11-somatostatin binding were measured in various brain areas immediately after PTZ injection, after the first head twitches, and 15 minutes, 1 h, 4 h, and 24 h after generalized tonic-clonic convulsions. SLI tended to decrease in the striatum (p less than 0.02), frontal cortex, hippocampus, and hypothalamus 1 hour after convulsion. Specific somatostatin binding remained stable. According to our results, somatostatin is not connected to initiation or spread of seizure but may play some role in depressing seizures.