Increased expression of placental growth factor in patients with temporal lobe epilepsy and a rat model

Placental growth factor (PIGF) plays a role in angiogenesis and neuroprotection. It has been suggested that angiogenesis and blood-brain barrier damage are involved in the pathophysiology of epilepsy. In this study, we investigated the PIGF expression in the temporal neocortices of 11 patients with pharmaco-resistant temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) and 6 non-epileptic controls, using double immunofluorescence labeling, immunohistochemistry and Western blotting. We also assessed PIGF expression pattern in a rat model of TLE induced by lithium chloride-pilocarpine. We found that PIGF expression was significantly elevated in patients with TLE than in control. TLE patients with initial injuries had significantly higher PIGF level than those without initial injuries. In the TLE rat model, PIGF upregulation started at 6h after status epilepticus and maintained at significant high level for up to 60 days. These results suggest that the augmentation of brain PIGF is associated with development of epilepsy.