title: Effects of transcranial focal electrical stimulation alone and associated with a sub-effective dose of diazepam on pilocarpine-induced status epilepticus and subsequent neuronal damage in rats.
abstract: Experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of transcranial focal electrical stimulation (TFS) applied via tripolar concentric ring electrodes, alone and associated with a sub-effective dose of diazepam (DZP) on the expression of status epilepticus (SE) induced by lithium-pilocarpine (LP) and subsequent neuronal damage in the hippocampus. Immediately before pilocarpine injection, male Wistar rats received TFS (300Hz, 200-μs biphasic square charge-balanced 50-mA constant current pulses for 2min) alone or combined with a sub-effective dose of DZP (0.41mg/kg, i.p.). In contrast with DZP or TFS alone, DZP plus TFS reduced the incidence of, and enhanced the latency to, mild and severe generalized seizures and SE induced by LP. These effects were associated with a significant reduction in the number of degenerated neurons in the hippocampus. The present study supports the notion that TFS combined with sub-effective doses of DZP may represent a therapeutic tool to induce anticonvulsant effects and reduce the SE-induced neuronal damage.
authors.affiliation: Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering Department, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA.
authors.forename: Walter
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Besio
authors.forename: Manola
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cuellar-Herrera
authors.forename: Hiram
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Luna-Munguia
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Orozco-Suárez
authors.forename: Luisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Rocha
mesh_terms: D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002452:Cell Count; D046690:Deep Brain Stimulation / Q000379:methods*; D003975:Diazepam / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005452:Fluoresceins; D006624:Hippocampus / Q000473:pathology*; D018021:Lithium Chloride / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D018721:Muscarinic Agonists / Q000633:toxicity; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D010862:Pilocarpine / Q000633:toxicity; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D011930:Reaction Time / Q000187:drug effects; D013226:Status Epilepticus / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000150:complications* / Q000628:therapy*
chemical_list: D000927:Anticonvulsants; D005452:Fluoresceins; D018721:Muscarinic Agonists; C435731:fluoro jade; D010862:Pilocarpine; D018021:Lithium Chloride; D003975:Diazepam
keywords: Diazepam; Lithium-pilocarpine; Neuronal damage; Status epilepticus; Transcranial focal electrical stimulation; Tripolar concentric ring electrode