STUDY OF THE USE OF DIMETHYL SULFOXIDE (DMSO) AS A SOLVENT IN THE ADMINISTRATION OF ANTIEPILEPTIC DRUGS

DMSO is a compound that is widely used to dissolve and deliver many waterinsoluble compounds and has various biological effects on the central nervous system. So the aim of
this study was to investigate the effects of dimethyl sulfoxide on experimental epileptic-like activities
induced by intraperitoneal injection of pentylenetetrazole in adult male rats.
Materials & Methods: In this study, 20 adult male Wistar rats (200-250 g) were used in 4 groups. The
control group (5 heads) received normal saline (200 µl) and the 3 groups (15 heads, 5 heads per
subgroup) were treated with 10, 50 and 100% DMSO (200µl) intraperitoneally, respectively. After
anesthesia with the combination of ketamine-xylazine (80+8 mg/kg) and surgery of the animal skull, the
electrode was inserted into the skull layer in the CA1 hippocampal striatum layer and epileptic activities
were induced by intraperitoneal injection of pentylenetetrazol (80 mg/kg) and epileptic activity was
measured and evaluated in terms of number of spikes per unit time and their amplitude by eTrace
software.
Results: The results of the present study showed that injectable dimethyl sulfoxide has a dose-dependent
effect on pentylenetetrazol-induced epileptiform activity in the hippocampus, so that the concentration
of 10% reduced the desired activity significantly (p<0.05) compared to the control group. So, it has
protective effect against pentylenetetrazol-induced epileptiform activity. While concentration of 100%
dimethylsulfoxide significantly (p<0.05) increased pentylenetetrazol-induced epileptiform activity
compared tocontrol group and had proconvulsant effect in seizure activity. However, 50% concentration
of dimethyl sulfoxide had no significant effect on the activity.
Conclusion: Low concentrations of dimethylsulfoxide are likely to be used as novel drug solvents for
different models of epilepsy to deliver the drug to the central nervous system, however further
investigation and testing are needed.