Serum neuron-specific enolase is a marker for neuronal damage following status epilepticus in the rat.
We determined the serum concentrations of neuron-specific enolase (s-NSE) in rat pups of 1, 2, 3, and 4 weeks of age and in adult rats that were subjected to lithium-pilocarpine status epilepticus (SE). Damage to brain regions was rated on a scale of 0 (no damage) to 5 (> 50% cell loss). Rat pups of 1-2 weeks of age had a higher baseline s-NSE than the adults. Following SE, 1 week old rat pups had no elevation of s-NSE and no histologic evidence of damage. At older ages the increases in NSE ranged from 18.9 +/- 0.8 ng/ml in the 2 week old (vs. 11.5 +/- 0.5 control) to 35.8 +/- 2.1 ng/ml in the 3 week old (vs. 12.1 +/- 0.8 control). In the adult rats s-NSE increased from 5.4 +/- 0.4 in the control animals to 30.4 +/- 1.3 after SE. The different brain regions examined had distinctive ontogenic profiles for SE-induced damage. Elevation of s-NSE after SE correlated with overall histologic evidence for damage.
Sankar
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R
Department of Neurology, UCLA School of Medicine, USA. rsankar@ucla.edu
Shin
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DH
Wasterlain
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D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000201:enzymology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase / Q000097:blood*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000097:blood* / Q000201:enzymology
D015415:Biomarkers; D010751:Phosphopyruvate Hydratase