Protective Effect of Copper-Rutin Complex in Animals with Experimental Epilepsy

Biological Faculty, Belorussian State University, Minsk. Address for correspondence: kostyuk@bio.bsu.unibel.by. Kostyuk V. A. The term epilepsy includes CNS diseases characterized by repeated seizures caused by synchronous and rhythmic hyperactivity of neuronal populations in the cortex, hippocampus, or thalamus. The pattern of seizures and other external manifestations of epileptic attacks are determined by normal function of the brain structure containing hyperexcitation focus. By the present time, about 2% population of our planet suffer from epilepsy [4]. Hereditary factors play a major role in the etiology of epilepsy. In humans, 12 gene mutations causing different forms of epilepsy were identified. Some genes encode channel-forming proteins [4]. Epilepsy can develop after traumatic or infectious injury to the brain. Free radical processes also play an important role in the pathogenesis of traumatic epilepsy [7]. It was shown that epileptic activity of neurons during seizures is associated with the formation of reactive oxygen forms and NO in the cerebral cortex [1]. That is why antioxidants, including bioflavonoids, were used as the agents suppressing epileptic activity in the CNS [2,6]. We recently showed that complexes of rutin and other flavonoid with metals are more effective antiradical agents and possess a more pronounced cytoprotective effect under conditions of oxidative stress compared to pure flavonoids [3,5]. We investigated the effect of a complex of bivalent copper with rutin (CRC) on bioelectrical activity of the brain under conditions of experimental epilepsy.