Mossy fibre sprouting: evidence against a facilitatory role in epileptogenesis

Sprouting of mossy fibres from dentate granule cells occurs in several animal models of epilepsy and in epileptic humans. Mossy fibre sprouting might contribute to epileptogenesis but also could be a compensatory, inhibitory response. We analysed mossy fibre sprouting in the supragranular zone of the dentate gyrus using Timm's histochemical method in genetically fast and slow kindling rats. Before the start of amygdala kindling, the slow rats showed higher Timm's staining scores than did the fast kindlers. No increase of mossy fibre density was observed when the animals were stimulated until either the fast or the slow rats had reached the fully kindled state. Our data argue against the hypothesis that mossy fibre sprouting facilitates epileptogenesis.