http://zmj.zsmu.edu.ua/article/view/18936/16626

The problem of choose of the safe anticonvulsant for the treatment of epilepsy is quite relevant. When choosing a drug, the physician should strive to balance the frequency of attacks and the severity of side effects in each individual patient. Rational antiepileptic therapy should improve the quality of life of the patient and his social adaptation. Purpose of the work : a comparative study of the effect of anticonvulsants on behavioral and emotional reactions and physical performance under the experimental conditions. MATERIALS AND METHODS. Study was conducted on 30 white nonlinear rats weighing 180 - 220 g and 30 white nonlinear mice weighing 17-25 g, which were kept on a standard diet of the vivarium. Drugs: sodium valproate, at a dose of 80 mg / kg and carbamazepine - a dose of 125 mg / kg. All animals were randomly divided into 6 groups of 10 rats and mice. Determination of physical performance of mice was done in a "stretched wire" (or "muscle relaxation") test, in accordance with the methodology . The "open field" test allows us to determine the type of effect of the drug on the central nervous system as well as to clarify the nature of its influence on orientational-research activity and emotional sphere of experimental animals. The data were analyzed by statistic method using statistical analysis programs such as StatPlus, AnalystSoft. Results: It should be noted that anticonvulsants had a sedative effect on orientational and exploratory activity in rats. The most pronounced difference in data of the behavior of experimental rats was observed when carbamazepine was administered. Horizontal motor activity that was determined by the number of peripheral squares that were crossed by the tested animals under carbamazepine decreased to 88,4% (p <0,05) compared to controls. And vertical motor activity was 89,7% (p <0,05). A similar situation was observed in the study of sodium valproate but the rate of horizontal locomotor activity was 67.3% (p <0,05) compared to controls, which was less than with carbamazepine. With the introduction of sodium valproate uprights decreased by 54,0% (p <0,05). In antiepileptic drugs administered to animals inhibited “hole reflex”: the number of holes decreased compared with control when using carbamazepine - by 76,9% (p <0,05), sodium valproate to 69.2% (p <0,05). The effect of drugs on physical performance of the animals was also studied. According to the results of our study, the duration of the retention on the wire in the control group was 34 ± 4,5 sec. (M ± SD). With the introduction of anticonvulsants the average time was moderately reduced compared with the control: on the sodium valproate to 38.2% (p <0.05) and was 21,0 ± 2,7 sec., on the carbamazepine to 43.2% (p