In Vivo measurements of dopamine concentration in anesthetized rats after Keppra administration (2010)

Undergraduates: Sebastian Cerdena, Kate J. Smith, Thomas S. Guillot, Donita L. Robinson

Faculty Advisor: Donita Robinson
Department: Chemistry

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Pharmacotherapy is becoming a method of increasing efficacy in the treatment for alcohol addiction. Specifically, anticonvulsant drugs topiramate and levetiracetam have shown potential to decrease alcohol consumption. Anticonvulsants are thought to be effective in the treatment of alcohol dependence by mimicking the inhibition of excess neuronal excitation caused by alcohol withdrawal. The current study looks at interactions between anticonvulsant drug, levetiracetam, and ethanol on electrically stimulated dopamine release in in vivo anesthetized rats through the use of fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. Data were modeled with non linear regression analysis using Michaelis-Menten uptake kinetics to derive a Vmax and Km for dopamine release. Three electrically stimulated dopamine peak amplitudes was measured using FSCV for three different parts of the experiment. A stable baseline with an amplitude variance of less than 10% was obtained, then levetiracetam (100mg/kg) was injected, then saline (2mL/100g). Electrically stimulated dopamine amplitude decreased to 96.8% of the baseline after levetiracetam administration and to 96.5% of the baseline after saline administration. A similarity between Vmax and [DA]p values from modeling is an indication of the null effect of levetiracetam on electrically stimulated dopamine release. The current study suggests that levetiracetam does not have an effect on electrically stimulated dopamine release in the nucleus accumbens of the rat brain.