Age-dependent regulation of seizure activity by nitric oxide in the developing rat

The role of nitric oxide (NO) on the age-dependent selective vulnerability to the consequences of epileptic seizures was studied in 10-day old (P10) and 21-day old (P21) rats. At P10, the NO synthase (NOS) inhibitor, NG-nitro-l-arginine (LNA), increased severity of seizures while l-arginine (l-Arg), the NOS substrate, had no effect. At P21, l-Arg improved the outcome of seizures while LNA had no effect. These results demonstrated the age-dependent role of NO in epilepsy.