Pyridoxine and GABA as antagonists to drug-induced convulsions in monkeys

Abstract

The antagonistic properties of pyridoxine and gamma aminobutyric acid (GABA) toward convulsant drugs were evaluated by determining their in vivo protective effects when administered parenterally prior to challenge. In a group of 28 monkeys composed of 19 chronic epileptics and 9 controls, pyridoxine and GABA provided variable grades of protection against the convulsant actions of methoxypyridoxine, semicarbazide, and to a lesser degree, pentamethylenetetrazol (Metrazol) and 3,3-methylethylglutarimide (Megimide). Neither pyridoxine nor GABA protected epileptic, brain-operated nonepileptic, or normal monkeys from the convulsant actions of parenteral picrotoxin. No evidence therefore was found in these experiments to support the suggestion that GABA (or pyridoxine) and picrotoxin are antagonistic to each other. experimental epilepsy in Macaca mulatta; gamma aminobutyric acid and vitamin B6 as anticonvulsants Submitted on February 15, 1965