RESUMO
INTRODUCTION: Certain compounds belonging to the family of the 2-aryl oxazolines have been reported to act on the central nervous system with a number of different effects and applications, which make them useful as depressants, anaesthetics, anticonvulsants, and so on. AIMS: Our aim was to study the possible effect of 4,4-bis(hydroxymethyl)-2-phenyl-2-oxazoline (OX), obtained by chemical synthesis using microwaves, in two experimental models of epilepsy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Two models were used: one involving (repeated stimulation) electroconvulsive shock in mice and the other consisted in inducing audiogenic seizures in Mongolian gerbils. Recordings were performed of the potentials in the dentate gyrus (DG) generated in response to electrical stimulation of the entorhinal cortex in anaesthetised gerbils, using the stereotactic technique. RESULTS: A 150 mg/kg dose of OX lowered the number of electrical pulses required to induce the tonic seizures triggered by the electroshock, as well as their duration. This same dose blocked the seizures induced by audiogenic stimuli in the gerbils and significantly reduced their severity (degrees of seizures) and occurrence. OX diminished, in a dose-dependent manner, the amplitude of the excitatory post-synaptic potential and that of the population spike, triggered by stimulating the entorhinal cortex in the DG. CONCLUSIONS: OX acts as an antiepileptic agent and its mechanism of action could be related to the inhibiting effect it exerts on the entorhinal cortex-DG synapses in the hippocampus.
Assuntos
Anticonvulsivantes/uso terapêutico , Epilepsia Reflexa/tratamento farmacológico , Oxazóis/uso terapêutico , Convulsões/tratamento farmacológico , Animais , Anticonvulsivantes/administração & dosagem , Anticonvulsivantes/síntese química , Anticonvulsivantes/farmacologia , Giro Denteado/efeitos dos fármacos , Giro Denteado/fisiopatologia , Diazepam/uso terapêutico , Relação Dose-Resposta a Droga , Avaliação Pré-Clínica de Medicamentos , Eletrochoque , Córtex Entorrinal/efeitos dos fármacos , Córtex Entorrinal/fisiopatologia , Epilepsia Reflexa/genética , Gerbillinae , Camundongos , Camundongos Endogâmicos , Oxazóis/administração & dosagem , Oxazóis/síntese química , Oxazóis/farmacologia , Via Perfurante/efeitos dos fármacos , Via Perfurante/fisiologia , Convulsões/etiologia , Convulsões/genéticaRESUMO
The finding of two imported cases of malaria in Spain is reported. Although their origin, their age and their clinical history were different, they both showed parasites of atypical morphology. One was diagnosed as P. vivax and the other as P. ovale, but the morphology observed in both cases does not correspond to what is considered as normal in the two species. In the first case forms similar to those of P. ovale were observed and in the second case P. vivax-like forms. The findings reported confirm the overlapping morphological variability of the two species.