4.2. Lithium–Pilocarpine Model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

A detailed description of the model has been provided previously [73]. The procedure involved injecting 21-day-old rats intraperitoneally (i.p.) with 127 mg/kg LiCl. After 24 h, the rats were treated with pilocarpine (30 mg/kg, i.p.). To prevent peripheral effects of pilocarpine, (-)-scopolamine methylbromide (1 mg/kg, i.p.) was administered one hour before pilocarpine. Only rats with stage 4 or higher seizures on the Racine scale [74] lasting at least 90 min were included in the study. The control group received LiCl, scopolamine methylbromide, and saline. To confirm the spontaneous seizures, 11 rats from the experimental group, aged 1.5 months, were selected. A 48 h monitoring period was conducted to observe the animals’ behavior and count the number of spontaneous recurrent seizures. Ten out of eleven rats exhibited an average of 2 to 3 clonic seizures during the monitoring period. The observed seizures were rated on the Racine scale, with an intensity of 3 to 4 points.