Gender difference in acquired seizure susceptibility in adult rats after early complex febrile seizures.
Gender differences are involved in many neurological disorders including epilepsy. However, little is known about the effect of gender difference on the risk of epilepsy in adults with a specific early pathological state such as complex febrile seizures (FSs) in infancy. Here we used a well-established complex FS model in rats and showed that: (1) the susceptibility to seizures induced by hyperthermia, pentylenetetrazol (PTZ), and maximal electroshock (MES) was similar in male and female rat pups, while males were more susceptible to PTZ- and MES-induced seizures than age-matched females in normal adult rats; (2) adult rats with complex FSs in infancy acquired higher seizure susceptibility than normal rats; importantly, female FS rats were more susceptible to PTZ and MES than male FS rats; and (3) the protein expression of interleukin-1β, an inflammatory factor associated with seizure susceptibility, was higher in adult FS females than in males, which may reflect a gender-difference phenomenon of seizure susceptibility. Our results provide direct evidence that the acquired seizure susceptibility after complex FSs is gender-dependent.
Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Basic Medical College, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
Yun-Jian
YJ
Dai
Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Basic Medical College, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
Zheng-Hao
ZH
Xu
Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Basic Medical College, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
Bo
B
Feng
Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Basic Medical College, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
Ceng-Lin
CL
Xu
Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Basic Medical College, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.
Hua-Wei
HW
Zhao
Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Basic Medical College, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China.|Department of Neurology, Collaborative Innovation Center for Diagnosis and Treatment of Infectious Diseases, First Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310003, China.
Deng-Chang
DC
Wu
Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Basic Medical College, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. huww@zju.edu.cn.
Wei-Wei
WW
Hu
Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, Basic Medical College, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, 310058, China. chenzhong@zju.edu.cn.
Zhong
Z
Chen
D000818:Animals; D003292:Convulsants; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004198:Disease Susceptibility; D004597:Electroshock; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever; D008297:Male; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole; D051381:Rats; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology*; D012727:Sex Characteristics
D003292:Convulsants; D010433:Pentylenetetrazole