Inhibition of acoustic priming in mice.

Mice of the C57BL/6J strain can be made susceptible to audiogenic seizures by a process known as acoustic priming. Acoustic priming can be blocked when the animals are injected either with puromycin or with puromycin aminonucleoside before the application of the priming stimulus. Cycloheximide, diphenylhydantoin, and d-amphetamine had little effect on priming-induced audiogenic seizures in these animals. All of these drugs, however, when given in combination with puromycin reversed in the protective action of puromycin against audiogenic seizures. Puromycin administered to 19-day-old mice increased susceptibility to electroconvulsive seizures when the animals were tested at 22 days of age. It is suggested that puromycin is able to block priming-induced audiogenic seizures by producing abnormal electrical activity in the brain or through an interference with normal neurohumoral transmission by incomplete peptides.