Anticonvulsant actions of trimecain and xilocain

Summary

Two local anesthetics — xilocain and trimecain (diethylamino-2,4,6-trimethylacetanilide hydrochloride) —employed clinically were tested on mice for their anticonvulsive actions, by applying the maximum electric shock seizure test (MES) and by the corasole induced convulsions test (metrasole test). Their side-effects (neurological toxicity) were studied by the “rotating bar” technique. Both drugs failed to prevent clonic convulsions after administration of 100 mg/kg corasole. Conversely, they abolished the hindlimb tonic extensor phase of the maximum electrical and corasole shock seizures. The ED₅₀ was determined for both drugs, and their relative activity calculated by the Litchfield and Wilcoxon method (1949). Trimecain proved to be only half as potent as xilocain. It is suggested that both drugs have a common anticonvulsant action.