Epilepsy is a chronic disorder that causes unprovoked, recurrent
seizures.
Status epilepticus (SE) is a medical emergency associated with significant morbidity and mortality.
Morphine has been the cornerstone of
pain controlling medicines for a long time. In addition to the
analgesic and
opioid responses,
morphine has also revealed
anticonvulsant effects in different
epilepsy models including
pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced
seizures threshold. Some authors suggest that
nitric oxide (NO) pathway interactions of
morphine explain the reason for its pro or
anticonvulsant activities. To induce SE, injection of a single dose of
lithium chloride (127 mg/kg, intraperitoneal (i.p.)) 20 h before
pilocarpine (60 mg/kg, i.p.) was used. Administration of
morphine (15 mg/kg, i.p.) inhibited the SE and decreased the mortality in rats when injected 30 min before
pilocarpine. On the other hand, injection of L-NG-nitro
arginine methyl ester (
L-NAME, a nonselective
NO synthase (NOS) blocker; 10 mg/kg, i.p.),
7-nitroindazole (7-NI, a neuronal NOS (nNOS) blocker; 30 mg/kg, i.p.), and
aminoguanidine (AG, an inducible NOS (iNOS) blocker; 50 mg/kg, i.p.) 15 min before
morphine, significantly reversed inhibitory effect of
morphine on SE. Subsequently, measurement of
nitrite metabolite levels in the hippocampus of SE-induced rats displayed high levels of
nitrite metabolite for the control group. However, after injection of
morphine in SE-induced rats,
nitrite metabolite levels reduced. In conclusion, these findings demonstrated that NO pathway (both nNOS and iNOS) interactions are involved in the
anticonvulsant effects of
morphine on the SE signs and mortality rate induced by
lithium-
pilocarpine in rats.