Different types of status epilepticus lead to different levels of brain damage in rats.
We investigated a possible correlation between behavior during status epilepticus (SE) and underlying brain damage. Adult rats were electrically stimulated in the left amygdala to induce SE, which was stopped 2 hours later. We observed two different types of SE: (1) typical SE (TSE), with facial automatisms, neck and forelimb myoclonus, rearing and falling, and tonic-clonic seizures; (2) ambulatory SE (ASE), with facial automatisms, neck myoclonus, and concomitant ambulatory behavior. TSE was behaviorally more severe than ASE (P<0.05). Histology revealed neuronal loss in several brain areas. There was a positive correlation between SE type and amount of injured areas 24 hours and 14 days after SE (P<0.01). The areas more affected were piriform cortex and hippocampal formation. We suggest quality of seizures during SE may be considered in further SE studies, as our results indicate its influence on the severity of brain damage following this paradigm.
Tilelli
Cristiane Queixa
CQ
Departamento de Fisiologia, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Universidade de São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brazil.
Del Vecchio
Flavio
F
Fernandes
Artur
A
Garcia-Cairasco
Norberto
N
D000679:Amygdala / Q000502:physiology; D000818:Animals; D001522:Behavior, Animal / Q000502:physiology; D001921:Brain / Q000473:pathology*; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D004567:Electrodes, Implanted; D004569:Electroencephalography; D004830:Epilepsy, Tonic-Clonic / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D009043:Motor Activity / Q000502:physiology; D009207:Myoclonus / Q000473:pathology / Q000523:psychology; D051381:Rats; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000473:pathology* / Q000523:psychology; D013238:Stereotaxic Techniques