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Updated: Nov 21, 2025
Assessment of Memory Function in Pilocarpine-induced Epileptic Mice
Published on: June 4, 2020
Post-status epilepticus treatment with the Fyn inhibitor, saracatinib, improves cognitive function in mice
Xin-Ming Luo1,2, Jing Zhao3, Wen-Yue Wu3
1Department of Neurology, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, No. 1 Minde Road, Nanchang, 330006, Jiangxi, China. luoxinming99@sina.com.
Background:
Status epilepticus (SE) is a life-threatening neurological disorder. The hippocampus, as an important area of the brain that regulates cognitive function, is usually damaged after SE, and cognitive deficits often result from hippocampal neurons lost after SE. Fyn, a non-receptor Src family of tyrosine kinases, is potentially associated with the onset of seizure. Saracatinib, a Fyn inhibitor, suppresses epileptogenesis and reduces epileptiform spikes. However, whether saracatinib inhibits cognitive deficits after SE is still unknown.
Methods:
In the present study, a pilocarpine-induced SE mouse model was used to answer this question by using the Morris water maze and normal object recognition behavioral tests.
Results:
We found that saracatinib inhibited the loss in cognitive function following SE. Furthermore, we found that the number of hippocampal neurons in the saracatinib treatment group was increased, when compared to the SE group.
Conclusions:
These results showed that saracatinib can improve cognitive functions by reducing the loss of hippocampal neurons after SE, suggesting that Fyn dysfunction is involved in cognitive deficits after SE, and that the inhibition of Fyn is a possible treatment to improve cognitive function in SE patients.
