Methylatropine bromide

These experiments utilized the method described in Luna-Munguia et al. (2017) (link). Briefly, 56-days-old rats were randomly assigned to a group that received an injection of pilocarpine hydrochloride (340 mg/kg ip; Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO) 20 min after a single intraperitoneal injection of methylatropine bromide (5 mg/kg; Sigma-Aldrich, St. Louis, MO). Five to ten minutes after the pilocarpine administration, the animals started with head nodding, evolving into recurrent generalized convulsions (status epilepticus) within 40 min. Rats that did not develop status epilepticus within this period of time, received an additional dose of pilocarpine hydrochloride (170 mg/kg; ip). Animals were behaviorally monitored by experienced researchers and after 90 min of status epilepticus, seizures were interrupted with diazepam (10 mg/kg ip; Hospira, Lake Forest, IL). Control animals received a single injection of methylatropine bromide (5 mg/kg; ip) 20 min prior to vehicle (0.9% saline solution; ip), and treated with diazepam 2 h after the saline injection. Monitoring of the spontaneous seizures began immediately after the pilocarpine injection and was continued for 14 days using a video recording system. Rats with epilepsy that did not achieve the initial body weight within the first 12 days after pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus were excluded from the study.

Carbachol was purchased from Abcam (Cambridge, MA). Pilocarpine, methylatropine bromide, and ATP were purchased from Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO). Atropine sulfate monohydrate was purchased from Alfa Aesar (Ward Hill, MA). Thapsigargin was purchased from Tocris Bioscience (Minneapolis, MN).