title: Prevalence of epileptic seizures along the wakefulness-sleep cycle in adult rats submitted to status epilepticus in early life.
abstract: In 70 adult Wistar rats submitted to pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus in early life the electro-oscillograms were recorded from neocortical areas 10, 3 and 17, from CA1 and CA3 hippocampal fields and, in 10 rats, also from the ventrolateral nuclei and amygdala. Head, eye, rostrum + vibrissae, ear and forelimb movements were recorded as well. Fifty rats were subjected to 4-hour daily recording sessions and 20 to continuous 24-hour recordings. In all the rats spike-wave discharges (SWD) were found in every site from which the electro-oscillograms were recorded, and clonic seizures were also displayed by all the animals. Most seizures (83.75%, mean = 6.59 fits/h) were concentrated in nearly 9 h and 16.25% (mean = 0. 77 fits/h) in the remaining 15 h. Eye movements occurred during 49. 2% of the total duration of motor events, the head moved in 42.8% and the rostrum + vibrissae in 8.1% of the time, departing from normal rats. Therefore, pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus produces striking changes in the wakefulness-sleep cycle characteristics.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Functional Neurosurgery, School of Medicine, University of São Paulo, and Laboratory of Experimental Neurology, Federal University of São Paulo, Brazil.
authors.forename: B L
authors.initials: BL
authors.lastname: Ferreira
authors.forename: A C
authors.initials: AC
authors.lastname: Valle
authors.forename: E A
authors.initials: EA
authors.lastname: Cavalheiro
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Timo-Iaria
mesh_terms: D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn / Q000254:growth & development / Q000502:physiology*; D004594:Electrophysiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity; D015995:Prevalence; D051381:Rats; D012894:Sleep Stages; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000150:complications* / Q000503:physiopathology; D014851:Wakefulness