Young rats, at postnatal day 21, developed seizures after exposure to a stream of heated air to approximately 41 掳C. A non-spatial long-term memory and PTZ seizure threshold were determined 30 days after FS. The behavioural seizures were stereotyped followed by facial automatisms, often followed by body flexion. Young rats were pre-treated with 3-ASP (50 and 100 mg/kg; per oral route), DZP (1 and 5 mg/kg; intraperitoneally) or vehicle.
3-ASP and DZP pre-treatments were not effective in protecting against seizures induced by FS. 3-ASP pre-treatment protected against the increase in responsiveness to PTZ and cognitive dysfunction induced by FS. DZP pre-treatment was effective in protecting against the increase in responsiveness to PTZ, but not, against the impaired memory induced by FS.
3-ASP pre-treatment protected against impairment of memory performance in the step-down passive avoidance task and the increase in the susceptibility to seizures caused by FS early in life of rats.