ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: Acute cocaine intoxication is one of the important causes of admission to emergency department, especially in western countries. We aimed to compare the efficacies of tetracycline, minocycline, doxycycline in the prevention of seizures and deaths in mice due to cocaine intoxication. METHODS: In the study, a total of 120 balb-c male mice weighing 25-30â¯g were randomized into 4 groups as tetracycline 255â¯mg/kg, minocycline 170â¯mg/kg, doxycycline 157â¯mg/kg, 0.5â¯ml saline (placebo). The doses of tetracycline, minocycline and doxycycline are the calculated ED50 values. The mice in the groups received 93â¯mg/kg cocaine intraperitoneally 10â¯min after drug administration. The dose of cocaine is 50% of the lethal dose. After cocaine injection, all mice were observed for 30â¯min in terms of cocaine toxicity findings. Mortality rates, death times, seizure activities, and seizure onset times of the mice were clinically evaluated in an observational way. RESULTS: There were significant differences among all the groups in terms of seizure and lethality (pâ¯<â¯0.001). The ratio of animals with seizures was significantly lower in the minocycline (73.3%), and doxycycline (73.3%) groups (all pâ¯=â¯0.040). The ratio of animals with lethality was significantly lower in the minocycline (23.3%) group compared with vehicle (pâ¯<â¯0.001). CONCLUSION: In our acute cocaine intoxication model, minocycline was effective in terms of lethality and preventing seizures, doxycycline was effective in preventing seizures.