Delayed Adjunctive Treatment of Organophosphate-Induced Status Epilepticus in Rats with Phenobarbital, Memantine, or Dexmedetomidine.

Organophosphate (OP) exposure induces status epilepticus (SE), a medical emergency with high morbidity and mortality. Current standard medical countermeasures lose efficacy with time so that treatment delays, in the range of tens of minutes, result in increasingly poor outcomes. As part of the Countermeasures Against Chemical Threats Neurotherapeutics Screening Program, we previously developed a realistic model of delayed treatment of OP-induced SE using the OP diisopropyl fluorophosphate (DFP) to screen compounds for efficacy in the termination of SE and elimination of neuronal death.

Screening for Efficacious Anticonvulsants and Neuroprotectants in Delayed Treatment Models of Organophosphate-induced Status Epilepticus.

Organophosphorus (OP) compounds are deadly chemicals that exert their intoxicating effects through the irreversible inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE). In addition to an excess of peripheral ailments, OP intoxication induces status epilepticus (SE) which if left untreated may lead to permanent brain damage or death. Benzodiazepines are typically the primary therapies for OP-induced SE, but these drugs lose efficacy as treatment time is delayed.