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. Author manuscript; available in PMC: 2021 Sep 15.
Published in final edited form as: Epilepsia. 2021 Mar 10;62(5):1041–1056. doi: 10.1111/epi.16862

TABLE 3.

Animal studies reporting an association between absence seizures and depression or anxiety along with interventions

Article Year of publication Model Behavioral tests Intervention Administration Effect of intervention on seizures Effect of intervention on behavioral disorders
Sarkisova et al.37 2003 WAG/Rij Forced swim, sucrose consumption, open field, light-dark choice, elevated plus maze Imipramine Subchronic (15 days) NA ↓ depressive behavior; no effect on anxious behavior
Sarkisova et al.32 2008 WAG/Rij Forced swim, sucrose consumption, sucrose preference, open field, light-dark choice Imipramine, parlodel Subchronic (15 days) NA ↓ depressive behavior; no effect on anxious behavior
Shaw et al.52 2009 Long-Evans Forced swim, sucrose consumption, elevated plus maze, open field Ethosuximide Acute ↓ number of seizures ↓ depressive behavior; no effect on anxious behavior
Sarkisova et al.13 2010 WAG/Rij Forced swim, sucrose consumption, sucrose preference, light-dark choice, open field Ethosuximide Early chronic (P21,
17 days), prolonged early chronic (P21, 152 days)
↓ number of SWDs ↓ depressive behavior; no effect on anxious behavior
Russo et al.41 2011 WAG/Rij Forced swim Carbamazepine, ethosuximide, levetiracetam, zonisamide Early chronic (P30, 119 days) ↓ development of seizures and sharp-wave discharges with ethosuximide, levetiracetam, and zonisamide; no effect with carbamazepine ↓ depressive behavior with ethosuximide; ↑ depressive behavior with levetiracetam; no effect with carbamazepine and zonisamide
Russo et al.42 2011 WAG/Rij Forced swim Vigabatrin Subchronic (5 days), early chronic (P30, 119 days) ↑ number of seizures with subchronic; ↓ number of seizures with early chronic ↓ depressive behavior
Huang et al.15 2012 Long-Evans Forced swim, sucrose consumption, sucrose preference, elevated plus maze, open field Lamotrigine Chronic (35 days) ↓ number and duration of SWDs ↓ depressive behavior and anxious behavior
Kovacs et al.34 2012 WAG/Rij Sucrose preference Clomipramine Early subchronic (<P21, 14 days) ↓ sharp-wave discharge activity ↑ depressive behavior
Russo et al.43 2013 WAG/Rij Forced swim, sucrose preference, elevated plus maze, open field Aripiprazole Subchronic (>14 days) ↓ number and duration of SWDs ↓ depressive and anxious behavior
Russo et al.44 2013 WAG/Rij Forced swim, sucrose preference Rapamycin Acute, subchronic (7 days), early chronic (P45, 119 days) ↓ number and duration of seizures; ↓ seizure development with early chronic ↓ depressive behavior with subchronic; ↑ depressive behavior with early chronic; no effect with acute
van Luijtelaar et al.40 2013 WAG/Rij Forced swim, sucrose preference Ethosuximide Two months treatment and 4 months treatment ↓ development of SWDs ↓ immobility score on forced swim test and no effect on sucrose preference
Citraro et al.30 2014 WAG/Rij Forced swim, open field Statins Acute, chronic (119 days), early chronic (<P45, 119 days) ↓ development of seizures with early chronic; no effect with acute or chronic ↓ depressive and anxious behavior with early chronic; no effect with acute or chronic
Russo et al.46 2014 WAG/Rij Forced swim Lipopolysaccharide Acute ↑ number and duration of seizures ↑ depressive behavior
Citraro et al.33 2015 WAG/Rij Forced swim Haloperidol, risperidone, quetiapine, fluoxetine, duloxetine Subchronic (49 days), chronic (119 days), early chronic (<P45, 119 days) ↑ seizure incidence with chronic haloperidol and risperidone; no effect on seizure incidence with chronic quetiapine; no effect on seizure development with early chronic haloperidol, risperidone, or quetiapine; ↓ incidence of nonestablished seizures with early chronic fluoxetine and duloxetine; ↓ incidence of established seizures with chronic duloxetine ↑ depressive behavior with early chronic haloperidol and risperidone; no effect with quetiapine and duloxetine; ↓ depressive behavior with early chronic fluoxetine
Ari et al.31 2016 WAG/Rij Elevated plus maze Ketone supplements Subchronic (7 days), chronic (83 days) NA ↓ anxious behavior
Citraro et al.47 2017 WAG/Rij Forced swim, sucrose preference, open field Perampanel Acute, subchronic (7 days), early chronic (<P30, 152 days) No effect with acute and subchronic; ↓ seizure development with chronic ↓ depressive behavior with early chronic; no effect on anxious behavior
Moyanova et al.49 2018 WAG/Rij Sucrose preference, forced swim Melatonin Acute, subchronic (18 days) No effect on incidence or circadian rhythm of seizures ↓ depressive behavior with subchronic
Sarkisova & Gabova50 2018 WAG/Rij Forced swim Maternal care Prolonged early chronic (>212 days) ↓ number and duration of seizures ↓ depressive behavior
Leo et al.35 2019 WAG/Rij Forced swim Ethosuximide Chronic (17 days) NA ↓ depressive behavior
Aygun36 2020 WAG/Rij forced swim, open field trazodone Acute ↑ number and duration of SWDs ↑ depressive and anxious behavior
Citraro et al.48 2020 WAG/Rij Forced swim, elevated plus maze Valproic acid, sodium butyrate Early chronic (P30, 152 days), prolonged early chronic (P30, 212 days) ↓ number and duration of SWDs ↓ depressive behavior with early chronic; ↓ depressive behavior with prolonged early chronic combined administration only; no effect on anxious behavior
Dezsi et al.8 2013 GAERS Open field Ethosuximide Early chronic (P21, 154 days) ↓ frequency of seizures ↓ anxious behavior
Dezsi et al.56 2016 GAERS Open field, elevated plus maze, light-dark box Enriched vs. standard environment Chronic (42 days), early chronic (P21, 77 days) prolonged early chronic (P30, 140 days) ↓ development and frequency of seizures ↓ anxious behavior
Marks et al.55 2019 GAERS Open field locomotion, elevated plus maze Z944, pan-T-type calcium channel antagonist Acute NA ↑ anxious behavior

Note: Imipramine: antidepressant; parlodel, dopamine agonist; ethosuximide, antiepileptic; carbamazepine: antiepileptic; levetiracetam: antiepileptic; zonisamide: antiepileptic; vigabatrin: antiepileptic; lamotrigine: antiepileptic; clomipramine: antidepressant; aripiprazole: antipsychotic; rapamycin: mammalian target of rapamycin inhibitor; statins: cholesterol synthesis inhibitor; haloperidol: antipsychotic; risperidone: antipsychotic; quetiapine: antipsychotic; fluoxetine: antidepressant; perampanel: antiepileptic; trazodone: antidepressant; valproic acid: antiepileptic.

Abbreviations: GAERS, Genetic Absence Epilepsy From Strasbourg; NA, not available; P, postnatal day; SWD, spike-and-wave discharge; WAG/Rij, Wistar Albino Glaxo From Rijswijk.