Absence epilepsy and regional blood-brain barrier permeability: the effects of pentylenetetrazole-induced convulsions.
This study was designed to evaluate the blood-brain barrier permeability characteristics of the WAG/Rij strain of rats that are an ideal model for human absence epilepsy, in controls and pentylenetetrazole-induced seizures conditioned to Evans blue-albumin. For this, WAG/Rij and Wistar rats were treated with either saline or 55 mg kg-1 pentylenetetrazole i.v. after the rats were injected with 3 ml kg-1 of 2% Evans blue. Total duration of seizure activity and regional blood-brain barrier permeability changes were determined and compared with control Wistar rats. The duration of convulsive activity which was induced by pentylenetetrazole was significantly longer in WAG/Rij rats than in Wistar rats. The blood-brain barrier opening to Evans blue was not the case in saline- injected WAG/Rij or Wistar rats, but this was clearly seen in both strains after pentylenetetrazole-induced convulsions. EB leakage was mainly seen in the cortical areas, cerebellum, pons, thalamus, hypothalamus and corpus striatum of WAG/Rij rat brain, whereas this was recorded in the preoptic area, bulbus olfactorius, midbrain, hypothalamus, corpus striatum and inferior colliculus of the Wistar rats brain. As a result, the WAG/Rij rats were more susceptible than Wistar rats to PTZ-induced generalised tonic-clonic convulsions, and a different pattern in PTZ-induced changes in BBB permeability was observed between WAG/Rij rats and Wistar rats.
Ates
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N
Department of Physiology, School of Medicine, Kocaeli University, Kocaeli, Derince 41900, Turkey.
Esen
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Ilbay
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G
D000818:Animals; D001812:Blood-Brain Barrier / Q000502:physiology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004832:Epilepsy, Absence / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole / Q000633:toxicity; D010539:Permeability; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000503:physiopathology*
D010433:Pentylenetetrazole