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Inducing Post-Traumatic Epilepsy in a Mouse Model of Repetitive Diffuse Traumatic Brain Injury
07:07

Inducing Post-Traumatic Epilepsy in a Mouse Model of Repetitive Diffuse Traumatic Brain Injury

Published on: February 10, 2020

Inflammation exacerbates seizure-induced injury in the immature brain

Stéphane Auvin1, Don Shin, Andrey Mazarati

  • 1Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neurology, David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, Los Angeles, California 90095, USA.

Epilepsia
|October 4, 2007
PubMed

Insights

Inflammation worsens seizure-induced brain injury in young rats, even without fever. This suggests inflammation may negatively impact long-term outcomes for early-life seizures.

Area of Science:

  • Neuroscience
  • Developmental Biology
  • Pathology

Background:

  • Status epilepticus (SE) can cause neuronal injury in the developing brain.
  • The role of inflammation in exacerbating SE-induced injury, independent of hyperthermia, is not fully understood.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate if lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced inflammation enhances status epilepticus (SE)-induced neuronal injury in the developing rat hippocampus.
  • To determine if this effect occurs without a significant increase in body temperature.

Main Methods:

  • Postnatal day 7 and 14 rat pups were administered lipopolysaccharide (LPS) 2 hours before inducing SE with lithium-pilocarpine (LiPC) or kainic acid.
  • Core body temperature was monitored during SE.
  • Neuronal injury in the hippocampus was assessed 24 hours post-SE using cell counts.

Main Results:

  • LPS alone did not cause cell injury.
  • LPS significantly exacerbated seizure-induced hippocampal damage, particularly in the CA1 subfield following LiPC-induced SE.
  • This exacerbation occurred without a rise in core body temperature.

Conclusions:

  • Inflammation increases the developing hippocampus's susceptibility to seizure-induced neuronal injury.
  • Inflammation may be a critical factor worsening the long-term consequences of early-life seizures.

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