Effects of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation of Rat Cerebral Structures on Pentylenetetrazole-Induced Seizures

In rats with a kindling syndrome induced by injections of pentylenetetrazole (PTZ, 30.0 mg/kg, i.p., for three weeks), the latent periods of seizures induced by test doses of PTZ (30 mg/kg) were, on average, 37.5% greater than those in the control (P < 0.05) after transcranial direct current stimulation (TDCS, 600 μA, 15.0 min, cathode on the skull surface) oriented to the cerebellar cortex. Such stimulation prevented initiation of generalized clonico-tonic seizures; the duration of ictal discharges in brain structures decreased, on average, by 42.1% (P < 0.02). The latent periods of acute PTZ-induced (60.0 mg/kg) seizures in rats that were not subjected to the kindling procedure were 33.5% longer after TDCS (P < 0.05) than those in the control. Similar stimulation focused on the frontal cerebral cortex prevented the development of generalized seizures in 50% of the kindling rats (P < 0.05).