Audiogenic epilepsy in mice with different genotypes after neonatal treatments enhancing neurogenesis in dentate gyrus.

Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine2009PMID: 19704948

Animal StudySemax

Plain Language Summary

Newborn rats prone to sound-triggered seizures were given either Semax or a nitric oxide synthase inhibitor during a critical window of brain development. Both treatments changed the pattern of seizures at one month of age and boosted new cell growth in the hippocampus in both seizure-prone and normal rats. However, whether seizures became more or less severe depended on the rat's genetic background, indicating that the same agent can have opposite effects depending on genetics.

Abstract

Pups of Wistar and KM rats (with predisposition to audiogenic epilepsy) were daily injected with neuropeptide semax (50 mg/kg) or NO-synthase inhibitor L-NAME (50 mg/kg) on days 7-11 of life. Alterations of audiogenic seizures pattern were revealed in rats of both strains at the age of 1 month, while changes in seizure severity were genotype-dependent. Both agents enhance neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus and the delayed effect in the form of altered seizure pattern seems to be determined by this factor. Genotype-dependent alterations of seizure severity after administration of semax and L-NAME were differently directed. These effects are suggested to be underlined by physiological and biochemical mechanisms not related to the intensity of postnatal neurogenesis.

Authors

Timoshenko, T V; Perepelkina, O V; Markina, N V; Revischin, A V; Pavlova, G V; Poletaeva, I I; Sukhih, G T