title: Brief seizures cause dendritic injury.
abstract: Seizures may directly cause brain injury by disrupting the structure and function of synapses. Previous studies using in vivo time-lapse imaging have demonstrated an acute beading of dendrites and loss of dendritic spines immediately following status epilepticus, but the effects of brief seizures and the long-term evolution of this dendritic injury are unknown. Here, we examined the effects of seizures of varying durations on dendritic structure over several weeks using in vivo multiphoton imaging with kainate-induced seizures in mice. The degree of dendritic injury was directly dependent on the duration of the seizures, with seizures lasting more than 30 min (status epilepticus) resulting in a greater than 75% spine loss. However, even brief seizures (<5 min) induced moderate dendritic beading and spine loss. The dendritic injury from brief seizures usually recovered within 2 weeks, whereas status epilepticus-induced injury only partially reversed. These studies demonstrate that seizures of all durations may trigger at least transient neuronal injury.
authors: Department of Neurology and the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO 63110, USA.
authors: Dongjun
authors: D
authors: Guo
authors: Sarah
authors: S
authors: Arnspiger
authors: Nicholas R
authors: NR
authors: Rensing
authors: Michael
authors: M
authors: Wong
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000473:pathology*; D003712:Dendrites / Q000473:pathology*; D049229:Dendritic Spines / Q000473:pathology; D007608:Kainic Acid; D051379:Mice; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D012640:Seizures / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology*; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology*; D013997:Time Factors
chemical_list: D007608:Kainic Acid