Wistar Audiogenic Rats (WAR) exhibit altered levels of cytokines and brain-derived neurotrophic factor following audiogenic seizures.
Increasing body of evidence suggests that inflammatory and neurotrophic factors might be important for epileptogenesis. Most animal studies demonstrated altered levels of these mediators in drug-induced models of seizures and epilepsy. In the present study, we investigated the production of cytokines and a neurotrophin in the brain of Wistar Audiogenic Rats (WAR), a genetic model of epilepsy, stimulated with high-intensity sound. Four hours after stimulation, animals were decapitated and the hippocampus, inferior colliculus, striatum and cortex were removed for evaluation of the levels of interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF). All the cytokines and BDNF levels were increased in the cortex. Increased levels of TNF-α and IL-6 were also observed in the striatum. Finally, TNF-α also increased in the inferior colliculus after the seizures induced by high-intensity sound. Although different studies have demonstrated that the levels of cytokines and BDNF increase in animal models of epilepsy induced by chemical stimuli, we provided here evidence that these mediators are also increased in WAR, a genetic model of epilepsy. Thus, the observed increase in these mediators might be involved in the pathophysiology of epilepsy.
Department of Pharmacology, Brazil.
Túlio Cezar
TC
de Souza Bernardino
Department of Internal Medicine, Brazil.
Antonio Lúcio
AL
Teixeira
Department of Internal Medicine, Brazil.
Aline Silva
AS
Miranda
Department of Biophysics and Physiology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Patrícia Maia
PM
Guidine
Department of Biophysics and Physiology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Gustavo
G
Rezende
Department of Biophysics and Physiology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Maria Carolina
MC
Doretto
Department of Biophysics and Physiology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Gabriel Perfeito
GP
Castro
Department of Biophysics and Physiology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Luciana
L
Drummond
Department of Biophysics and Physiology, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
Márcio Flávio Dutra
MF
Moraes
Department of Pharmacology, Brazil.
Pedro Augusto Lopes
PA
Tito
Department of Pharmacology, Brazil.
Antonio Carlos Pinheiro
AC
de Oliveira
Department of Pharmacology, Brazil. Electronic address: heltonjr@icb.ufmg.br.
Helton José
HJ
Reis
D000161:Acoustic Stimulation; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000378:metabolism*; D016207:Cytokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D053583:Interleukin-1beta / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012640:Seizures / Q000209:etiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor; D016207:Cytokines; D053583:Interleukin-1beta; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha
BDNF; Cytokines; Inflammation; Seizures; Wistar Audiogenic Rats