Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) during pregnancy can increase the prevalence of N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA)-induced generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCSs) in developing rats. However, it is unclear whether phenobarbital (PB) can suppress these PAE-related seizures. To explore this knowledge gap, we investigated the effects of acute PB treatment on NMDA-induced seizures in postpartum rats, prenatally exposed to alcohol on gestational day 18 (GD18), at two developmental stages: day 7 (P7), the equivalent of pre-term neonates, and day 15 (P15), the equivalent of full-term neonates. Timed-pregnant female Sprague-Dawley rats were given a single dose of alcohol or its vehicle on GD18 during the second-trimester equivalent. Male and female postpartum rats were tested for the effectiveness of single-dose treatment with either PB or its vehicle in suppressing NMDA-induced seizures. These seizures include wild running-like behavior (WRLB), flexion seizures (FSs), clonic seizures (CSs), generalized tonic-clonic seizures (GTCSs), and tonic seizures (TSs) in P7 and P15 rats. Analyses revealed that P7 rats were more likely to develop GTCSs after PB administration than P15 rats
this effect was associated with shorter latencies to develop NMDA-induced seizures. Moreover, PAE-related seizure severity is less responsive to PB treatment in P7 rats than in P15 rats. These findings suggest that the PAE-related GTCS model in P7 rats can be used to investigate the mechanisms underlying PB-resistant seizures in developing rats.