Oxidative stress has been implicated in a variety of acute and chronic neurologic conditions, including epilepsy. Both the kainic acid and pilocarpine are useful models of temporal lobe epilepsy in rodents. As an index of lipid peroxidation the level thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) was measured after the status epileticus induced by pilocarpine or kainic acid. In hippocampus there was a slight enhancement in the TBARS levels measured 12-14 h after the end of status epileticus induced by pilocarpine and kainic acid. The TBARS levels in pilocarpine treated animals was significantly decreased late after status epileticus and in kainic acid model the TBARS returned to basal levels. These results indicating a putative role of reactive oxygen species in kainic acid and pilocarpine induced epilepsy.