Mitochondrial dysfunction and ultrastructural damage in the hippocampus of pilocarpine-induced epileptic rat

Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated as a contributing factor in epileptic seizures. Present studies were carried out to decipher seizure-dependent changes in mitochondrial function and ultrastructure in the chronic condition of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) induced by pilocarpine in rat hippocampus. Enzyme assay revealed significant depression of the activity of mitochondrial- and nuclear-encoded cytochrome oxidase (COX). Conversely, the activity of nuclear-encoded succinate dehydrogenase (SDH) remained unchanged. Discernible mitochondrial ultrastructural damage, varying from swelling to disruption of membrane, was observed in the hippocampus. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blotting showed the expression of mitochondrial-encoded COX subunit III (COXIII) dropped significantly during the chronic seizure activity; the corresponding expression of COX subunit IV (COXIV) displayed no significant change. Most likely, our results suggest that dysfunction of mitochondrial COX respiratory enzyme and mitochondrial ultrastructural damage in the hippocampus are associated with prolonged seizure during experimental TLE and mitochondria are more vulnerable to epilepsy.