Effects of pentylenetetrazol-induced status epilepticus on local cerebral blood flow in the developing rat

The quantitative autoradiographic [14C]-iodoantipyrine technique was applied to measure the effects of a 30-min period of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ)-induced status epilepticus (SE) on local cerebral blood flow (LCBF) in rats 10 (P10), 14 (P14), 17 (P17), and 21 (P21) days after birth. The animals received repetitive, timed injections of subconvulsive doses of PTZ until SE was reached. At P10, SE induced a 32 to 184% increase in the rates of LCBF affecting all structures studied. In P14- and P17 PTZ-treated rats, LCBF values significantly increased in two-thirds of the structures belonging to all systems studied and were not changed by SE in the parietal cortex, dorsal hippocampus, and dentate gyrus. At P21, rates of LCBF were still increased in 48 of the 73 structures studied; however, LCBF values were decreased by SE in most cortical areas, the hippocampus, and the dentate gyrus. CBF and cerebral metabolic rate for glucose (CMRglc) remained coupled in both controls and PTZ-exposed rats. Our results show that changes in LCBF with seizures are age dependent. At the most immature ages, P10 and P14, both LCBF and local CMRglc (LCMRglc) values are largely increased by long-lasting seizures. At P17 and P21, the blood flow response to SE becomes more heterogeneous, with specific decreases in the hippocampus and cortex at P21. The absence of mismatch between LCBF and LCMRglc in PTZ-exposed rats at all ages may explain at least partly why the immature brain is more resistant to seizure-induced brain damage than the adult brain.