Objectives:

Paracetamol is a commonly used analgesic and antipyretic agent. In studies investigating the effects of paracetamol on seizure activity, to our knowledge, the hypothermic effect has not been evaluated in studies investigating the hypothermic effects of paracetamol, its activity on seizures has not been evaluated. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of paracetamol on seizure and intracranial temperature simultaneously in rats.

Methods:

Status epilepticus (SE) was induced with pentylenetetrazole (PTZ). In the control group (Group I), SE was induced with PTZ and paracetamol was not administered. Paracetamol was administered in Group II and after 30 minutes, PTZ was injected. Paracetamol was injected immediately after PTZ injection in Group III. Electrocorticography recording was taken for 120 min in all groups and the intracranial temperature was measured.

Results:

In groups given paracetamol, the spike frequency was significantly lower than that of the control group for 120 min. In paracetamol-treated groups (Groups II and III), the intracranial temperature statistically decreased from the baseline at 30 minutes and hypothermia developed. Both the spike frequency and the intracranial temperature in Group II were statistically significantly lower than those of Group III at 60th min while at the 120th minute, the values for Group III were determined to be lower than those for Group II.

Conclusion:

The parallel decrease in spike frequency and intracranial temperature suggests that paracetamol reduces intracranial temperature to prevent epileptic activity. Rather than being a prodrug, paracetamol may be an effective drug in the treatment of status epilepticus.

Keywords: Epilepsy, hypothermia, paracetamol, status epilepticus