The activity of some neurotransmitter-synthetizing enzymes in experimental cobalt epilepsy

The activities of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), dihydropteridine reductase (DHPR), aromatic aminoacid decarboxylase (AAD) and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), enzymes involved in the synthesis of neurotransmitters possibly implicated in epilepsy, were measured in some brain areas of rats with cobalt-induced epilepsy. Although TH, AAD and GAD were significantly decreased in the cortex of treated animals, the reduction was not correlated with the development of the electroclinical patterns of epilepsy. The reduction observed might be better explained by nerve degeneration caused by the experimental lesion. © 1978.