Effect of acetyl L carnitine on oxidative stress markers in hippocampus of epileptic rat

Epilepsy is a rather common neurological disorder. Oxidative stress plays an important role in the pathogenesis of epilepsy. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of acetyl L carnitine (ALC) on oxidative stress markers in hippocampus of epileptic rats. In this experimental study, male rats were divided into 5 groups of sham, epileptic rats receiving valproic acidat a dose of 200 mg/kg, and 3 ALC-treated epileptic rats at doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg for 3 days pre-surgery. Seizure activity was determined in 4 h periods and for measurement of oxidative stress markers, level of malondialdehyde (MDA), nitrite, and activity of superoxide dismutase (SOD) were determined in hippocampal homogenate. The obtained data was fed into SPSS software (V: 16) for statistical analysis, one-way ANOVA and x2 tests were used. ALC treatment at doses of 50 and 100 mg/kg attenuated seizure intensity (P<0.05 and P<0.01, respectively), level of MDA significantly reduced (P<0.05) following ALC at a dose of 50 mg/kg, but nitrite level and SOD activity did not show significant changes. ALC pretreatment has antiepileptic activity and at a dose of 50 mg/kg can reduce MDA level as an index of lipid peroxidation but it has no appropriate effect on nitrite level and SOD activity.