Abstract
Cardiazol® induced seizures in rabbits showed that the highest oxypurine concentrations can
be detected in the CSF 1 hour after the convulsions. There is a sharp decline continuing
until the third hour. After that the CSF values remain nearly constant until the 24th
hour being about ten times higher than in the controls. There is a good correlation
of these results obtained through the densitometric thin-layer, enzymatic-oxymetric,
and HPLC-methods. Creatinine and potassium were raised only during the first two hours
postconvulsively. Uracil appeared in the CSF slightly higher at the 1 hour and at
the 12 and 24 hour values. A parallel increase of the oxypurine and creatinine concentrations
was found in the serum between 30 to 120 minutes postconvulsively. After that the
raised serum values decreased slowly to the initial values.
CSF samples were examined in 31 children postconvulsively: Hypoxanthine was found
to be raised in 8 of 12 patients with severe grand mal seizures, 1 of 6 patients with
hypsarrhythmia, 1 of 8 patients with short seizures (< 2 min) and in all 5 patients
with petit mal status. In contrast to these groups the hypoxanthine concentration
was raised only in 2 of 20 children with aseptic meningitis. The difference between
the group of children with convulsions and the group of children with aseptic meningitis
is significant (p < 0.005). Also, the frequency of raised uric acid concentration
is higher in the group of children with convulsions (70 %) than in the group of children
with aseptic meningitis (40%); (p < 0.05).
Key words
Oxypurines - uracil - creatinine - CSF - cerebral convulsions
