Effect of prolonged convulsions on the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier

Abstract

The effect of prolonged convulsions (induced by Metrazol or electroshock) on the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier of puppies was evaluated with the use of radioiodinated human serum albumin by measuring its rate of passage from the plasma into the cerebrospinal fluid. Albumin I¹³¹ was injected intravenously and convulsions were induced immediately by intravenous Metrazol or the application of electroshock. A marked increase in the concentration ratio (cerebrospinal fluid radioactivity/ plasma radioactivity) occurred when seizures were maintained for 30 minutes or longer. The slope of cerebrospinal fluid albumin I¹³¹ concentration as a function of time was about 25 times as great in the convulsed puppies as in the controls. It is concluded that marked alteration in the permeability of the blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier to albumin I¹³¹ was produced by prolonged seizures.