Changes in the levels of inhibitory and excitatory amino acids in the brain structures of female rats with cobalt epileptogenic focus during different phases of the estrous cycle.

We studied changes in the levels of inhibitory and excitatory neurotransmitters in female rat brain structures during different phases of the estrous cycle in health and after creation of a cobalt epileptogenic focus at stage I of epileptogenic system development. The most pronounced shifts were found in the contralateral cortex, where the levels of GABA and glycine decreased significantly during the diestrus-2 phase (corresponding to menstruation), which attests to a convulsive threshold decrease during this period.