title: Malnutrition in infancy as a susceptibility factor for temporal lobe epilepsy in adulthood induced by the pilocarpine experimental model.
abstract: Malnutrition during the earliest stages of life may result in innumerable brain problems. Moreover, this condition could increase the chances of developing neurological diseases, such as epilepsy. We analyzed the effects of early-life malnutrition on susceptibility to epileptic seizures induced by the pilocarpine model of epilepsy. Wistar rat pups were kept on a starvation regimen from day 1 to day 21 after birth. At day 60, 16 animals (8 = well-nourished; 8 = malnourished) were exposed to the pilocarpine experimental model of epilepsy. Age-matched well-nourished (n = 8) and malnourished (n = 8) rats were used as controls. Animals were video-monitored over 9 weeks. The following behavioral parameters were evaluated: first seizure threshold (acute period of the pilocarpine model); status epilepticus (SE) latency; first spontaneous seizure latency (silent period), and spontaneous seizure frequency during the chronic phase. The cell and mossy fiber sprouting (MFS) density were evaluated in the hippocampal formation. Our results showed that the malnourished animals required a lower pilocarpine dose in order to develop SE (200 mg/kg), lower latency to reach SE, less time for the first spontaneous seizure and higher seizure frequency, when compared to well-nourished pilocarpine rats. Histopathological findings revealed a significant cell density reduction in the CA1 region and intense MFS among the malnourished animals. Our data indicate that early malnutrition greatly influences susceptibility to seizures and behavioral manifestations in adult life. These findings suggest that malnutrition in infancy reduces the threshold for epilepsy and promotes alterations in the brain that persist into adult life.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Neurologia e Neurocirurgia, Disciplina de Neurologia Experimental, Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, Brasil.
authors.forename: Francisco Romero
authors.initials: FR
authors.lastname: Cabral
authors.forename: Margareth Rose
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Priel
authors.forename: Bruno Henrique
authors.initials: BH
authors.lastname: Silva Araujo
authors.forename: Laila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Brito Torres
authors.forename: Eliangela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: de Lima
authors.forename: Tiago
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gurgel do Vale
authors.forename: Felipe
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Pereira
authors.forename: Henrique
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Alves de Amorim
authors.forename: Esper
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Abrão Cavalheiro
authors.forename: Débora
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Amado Scerni
authors.forename: Maria da Graça
authors.initials: Mda G
authors.lastname: Naffah-Mazzacoratti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D003292:Convulsants / Q000633:toxicity; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004833:Epilepsy, Temporal Lobe / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D007228:Infant Nutrition Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology*; D019599:Mossy Fibers, Hippocampal / Q000473:pathology; D010862:Pilocarpine / Q000633:toxicity; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar
chemical_list: D003292:Convulsants; D010862:Pilocarpine