Decreased seizure threshold and more rapid rate of kindling in rats with cortical malformation induced by prenatal treatment with methylazoxymethanol.

Abstract

In humans, cortical malformations are highly epileptogenic. In rats, prenatal treatment with methylazoxymethanol (MAM) cause a diffuse cortical malformation that is yet not associated with seizures. We performed rapid hippocampal kindling in MAM and control rats. We show that MAM rats present (i) a lower initial afterdischarge threshold; (ii) a more rapid progression to generalized seizures. We conclude that MAM rats may serve as models for human epileptogenic cortical malformations.