Effect of ethosuximide on dopaminergically mediated behaviours.

Pretreatment with ethosuximide, a drug of choice for petit mal epilepsy, was found to inhibit the conditioned avoidance response in rats and the traction response in mice and to antagonise methamphetamine induced stereotyped behaviour in rats. Our results, which indicate the ethosuximide is capable of inhibiting the dopaminergically mediated behaviours, are in agreement with the recent reports stating that ethosuximide exerts central dopamine receptor blocking activity.