The anticonvulsant effectiveness of the benzodiazepine antagonists RO 15-1788, CGS-8216 and PK-11195 were evaluated against threshold and suprathreshold (400 microA) stimulation in fully amygdaloid-kindled rats. Pretreatment with either RO 15-1788 (3, 10 and 30 mg/kg), CGS-8216 (3, 10 and 30 mg/kg) or PK-11195 (10 and 60 mg/kg) failed in this study to modify consistently either the afterdischarge thresholds or elicited suprathreshold seizures or duration of afterdischarge. Using a double injection paradigm, the effectiveness of these three benzodiazepine antagonists to reverse the anti-convulsant and behavioral effects of diazepam were studied. When diazepam (3 mg/kg) was injected 15 min before or after a second injection of the vehicle control DMSO (0.25 ml/kg), a significant reduction in the duration of afterdischarge and seizure rank, elicited by a suprathreshold stimulation in amygdaloid-kindled rats, occurred. When either CGS 8216 (10 mg/kg) or RO 15-1788 (10 mg/kg) were given 15 min before diazepam (3 mg/kg) prior to stimulation, the anticonvulsant properties of diazepam were blocked. When RO 15-1788 (10 mg/kg) was given 15 min after diazepam, antagonism of the anticonvulsant effects on diazepam was shown. However, when either CGS-8216 (10 mg/kg) or PK-11195 (10 and 60 mg/kg) were given 15 min after diazepam (3 mg/kg), the anticonvulsant properties of diazepam were not blocked. The anticonvulsant effects of diazepam were reversed when CGS-8216 (10 mg/kg) was given 5 min after diazepam (3 mg/kg) or when a larger dose (30 mg/kg) was given at the same 15 min interval.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)