Influence of chronic aminophylline on the anticonvulsant efficacy of phenobarbital and valproate in mice.

The protective efficacy of phenobarbital (PB, 120 min before testing) and valproate (VPA, 30 min before testing) alone or combined with aminophylline (a single dose of 50 mg/kg, 3-day or 14-day administration twice daily 50 mg/kg at 8.00 a.m. and 8.00 p.m.) was evaluated against maximal electroshock-induced seizures (MES) in male mice. All drugs were given intraperitoneally (i.p.), and the protection provided by PB and VPA was evaluated as the respective ED50 value (in mg/kg). Aminophylline in a single dose of 50 mg/kg (30 min before electroconvulsions) distinctly reduced the protective efficacy of both PB and VPA, reflected by the increase in the respective ED50 values from 22 to 31 mg/kg (p < 0.001) for PB and from 247 to 281 mg/kg (p < 0.001) for VPA. After administration of aminophylline for 3 days (electroshock was performed 30 min after the last aminophylline injection), the respective ED50 values for PB and VPA were 29.5 (p < 0.01) and 269 mg/kg (p < 0.01 vs. saline-treated animals). Chronic treatment with aminophylline (14 days) resulted in further impairment of the protective activity of PB and VPA. Specifically, the ED50 value of PB was 39 mg/kg (p < 0.05 vs. PB+single injection of aminophylline) and that of VPA was 318 mg/kg (p < 0.01 vs VPA+single injection of aminophylline). Plasma levels of both PB and VPA were not affected by chronic aminophylline; moreover, the plasma level of theophylline was even lower after chronic aminophylline as compared with single aminophylline administration.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)