Levobupivacaine induces seizures in Wistar rats through behavioral, electrophysiological, and pharmacological modulation

Status epilepticus (SE) remains a life-threatening neurological emergency driven by prolonged, excessive neuronal discharges. At toxic concentrations, levobupivacaine (LBE), a potent local anesthetic, can provoke seizures and thus serves as a practical model to study seizure generation and therapeutic response. We established an LBE-induced seizure model in adult Wistar rats and combined behavioral scoring, hippocampal field recordings, and pharmacological intervention. Following intraperitoneal LBE (20 mg/kg), animals progressed reproducibly through four behavioral stages (mean latencies: 119.6 s, 154.8 s, 175.9 s, and 225.1 s), ending in tonic–clonic events complicated by respiratory failure. Electrophysiological traces showed alternating ictal and interictal epochs with high amplitude burst discharges and significant increases in spectral power across theta, beta, and gamma bands. Intravenous administration of diazepam and phenobarbital markedly suppressed ictal discharges; phenytoin and valproate yielded only partial attenuation. Collectively, the LBE model reproduces key behavioral and electrographic hallmarks of convulsive SE and provides a reproducible platform for probing convulsant neurotoxicity and for preclinical screening of anticonvulsant strategies.