Antiepileptic effects of the excitatory amino acid antagonist cis-2,3 piperidine-dicarboxylic acid depend on non-N-methyl-d-aspartate receptors.
The effects of the broad spectrum antagonist of the excitatory amino acid neurotransmission, the cis-2,3 piperidine-dicarboxylic acid (cis-2,3 PDA) were investigated on the epileptiform activity induced in vitro by different treatments on rat hippocampal slices. The drug reduced the bursting duration by 45% and the occurrence of the additional population spikes by 50% compared with controls using 1 microM kainic acid to induce epileptiform bursting. At the same concentrations (50-100 microM) cis-2,3 PDA did not significantly affect the magnesium free-induced epileptiform activity. At higher concentrations (200-400 microM), the drug was able to reduce by 25% the bursting duration and the occurrence of the additional population spikes using 1 mM penicillin to induce epileptiform bursting. Our data indicate that the broad spectrum antagonist of the excitatory amino acid transmission, cis-2,3 PDA, presents a low antiepileptic activity that could be related to an influence on "non N-methyl-d-aspartate" (NMDA) receptors.