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Updated: Feb 2, 2026

The Pilocarpine Model of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy and EEG Monitoring Using Radiotelemetry System in Mice
Published on: February 27, 2018
Coronary vasodilation impairment in pilocarpine model of epilepsy
Paula R Vitorino1, Karina P Gomes1, Poliana P Ghazale1
1Department of Physiological Sciences, Integrative Laboratory of Cardiovascular and Neurological Pathophysiology, Federal University of Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brazil.
Abstract:
We investigated the coronary arteries reactivity alterations in rats with epilepsy induced by pilocarpine. To do so, male Wistar rats weighing between 250 g and 300 g were used. Status epilepticus (SE) was induced in rats using 385 mg/kg (i.p.) of pilocarpine. After 60 days from the first spontaneous seizure, rats were submitted to heart rate measurements and then, one day after, euthanized, and the heart was dissected and submitted to constant flow Langendorff approaches to evaluate coronary reactivity. Rats with epilepsy showed higher resting heart rate and impairment of coronary vasodilation induced by bradykinin. Endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) presented a reduced staining in coronary arteries, and eNOS expression was also reduced in the left ventricle of rats with epilepsy. Our findings demonstrated, for the first time, that epilepsy can cause impairment of coronary arteries reactivity, probably because of an endothelial dependent mechanism.
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