title: Spontaneous motor seizures of rats with kainate-induced epilepsy: effect of time of day and activity state.
abstract: Kainate treatment in rats can result in a chronic behavioral state that is similar to human temporal lobe epilepsy. We tested the hypothesis that, like some humans with epilepsy, rat with kainate-induced epilepsy have more spontaneous motor seizures during inactivity (i.e. little to no volitional movement, including apparent sleep) than during activity (i.e. apparent volitional movement, as in walking, grooming, eating, etc.). Rats were given intraperitoneal (i.p.) injections of kainate (5 mg/kg) every hour so that class III/IV/V seizures were elicited for > or = 3 h. Seizure behavior was video-monitored (24 h for 5-6 days, n = 32 rats at 3 months and n = 23 rats at 4 months after treatment) to examine the occurrence of seizures as a function of light versus dark (12-12-h light-dark cycle) and inactivity versus activity. Significantly more spontaneous motor seizures occurred during inactive versus active states (82% vs. 18%, P = 0.0001). Although more seizures occurred during the light period than the dark, the difference was not significant (62% vs. 38%, P > 0. 1). These data suggest that the frequency of spontaneous motor seizures in the rat with kainate-induced epilepsy depends primarily on activity state rather than time of day (i.e. time during the light-dark cycle). The effect of inactivity on the occurrence of seizures in the rat with kainate-induced epilepsy appears similar to some forms of human epilepsy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins 80523, USA.
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Hellier
authors.forename: F E
authors.initials: FE
authors.lastname: Dudek
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000187:drug effects; D003624:Darkness; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists / Q000633:toxicity*; D005260:Female; D007608:Kainic Acid / Q000633:toxicity*; D008027:Light; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced* / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors; D014743:Videotape Recording
chemical_list: D018690:Excitatory Amino Acid Agonists; D007608:Kainic Acid