Grafted noradrenergic neurons suppress seizure development in kindling-induced epilepsy

Norepinephrine-rich cell suspensions, prepared from the locus coeruleus region of rat fetuses, were grafted bilaterally into the hippocampus of rats made hypersensitive to hippocampal kindling by a neurotoxic lesion of the central catecholamine system. The animals with grafts showed a marked suppression of the onset and progression of kindling-induced epilepsy, and this effect was correlated with the degree of graft-derived noradrenergic innervation of the host hippocampal formation. We conclude that grafted neurons can modulate the excitability of epileptic brain regions.