Diphenylhydantoin and movement of radioactive sodium into electrically stimulated cerebral slices

Abstract

Thin slices prepared from guinea pig cerebral cortex responded to electrical stimulation for 1.5–10 min at 1000 c/sec or 100 c/sec with a drop in content of creatine phosphate, ATP and K + in the non-inulin space. Non-inulin Na + rose. 22Na uptake also rose from an initial rate of about 480 μEq/g initial wt./hr to about 1360 μEq/g initial wt./hr. All of the above changes were diminished by diphenylhydantoin at concentrations of 1–2.7 × 10 −4 M. These results suggest that diphenylhydantoin diminishes the ability of neuronal elements to depolarize in response to electrical excitation.