The anticonvulsant effects of intra-hippocampal thyrotropin-release hormone (TRH) were examined in amygdala kindled rats. Subjects were implanted unilaterally with an electrode in the amygdala and bilaterally with guide cannulae in the hippocampus, aimed at the dorsal and ventral dentate gyri. Rats were kindled daily with suprathreshold electrical stimulation (800 microA, 1 ms pulse width, 100 Hz, duration 0.5 s) until seizures were reliably elicited. The afterdischarge (AD) duration, seizure duration, and seizure stage were recorded daily, and AD thresholds were determined after kindling was completed. TRH was infused into each of the four cannulae of freely moving rats at doses of 0 (vehicle), 1.25, 2.5 and 5 microg/site. Five minutes after the last infusion, the rats received electrical stimulation at their AD threshold (mean = 135 microA) + 50 microA. TRH reduced the AD and seizure duration in a dose-dependent manner. At the dose of 2.5 microg/site, TRH also reduced AD and seizure duration in rats stimulated with suprathreshold current (800 microA). However, TRH had minimal effects on seizure stage irrespective of the stimulation intensity. These results suggest that the seizure-induced elevations of TRH in the hippocampus, as demonstrated in previous studies, may be part of an endogenous anticonvulsant compensatory mechanism and that further elevations of TRH in the hippocampus can produce anticonvulsant effects mainly by reducing the AD and seizure duration.

SUMMARY An analysis of 523 Lundh tests performed on 492 patients over a five-year period has been made. The results suggest that the test is a simple, cheap, and reliable procedure for the diagnosis of pancreatic exocrine insufficiency, and is suitable for both specialized units and general hospitals. It is particularly useful in the differential diagnosis of patients with steatorrhoea or obstructive jaundice and can often distinguish between malignant and benign lesions, as well as indicating the site of the obstruction. It is of lesser value in the diagnosis of abdominal pain.

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Unlike the other articles in this series on rTMS, this paper will not include clinical research or magnetic stimulation experiments. Instead, we will focus on an animal model of epilepsy called kindling and a procedure that we have recently developed to inhibit kindled seizures called quenching. Both procedures involve direct intracerebral electrical stimulation of the brain. We demonstrate that low-frequency stimulation, which does not disrupt ongoing behavior, can have profound and long-lasting effects on both seizure development and fully kindled seizures.At this point, we do not know how well these models relate, either mechanistically or phenomenologically, to the effects of repeated transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS); however, we believe that at the very least, some of the principles emerging from studying these phenomena may be relevant to our thinking about rTMS and its potential treatment utility. Specifically, we discuss the possible relationship between quenching and rTMS with regards to parameters of induction, possible common mechanisms, and potential treatment implications.