Abstract
BackgroundThe role of neuroplasticity in epilepsy has been widely studied in experimental models and human brain samples. However, the results are contradictory and it remains unclear if neuroplasticity is more related to the cause or the consequence of epileptic seizures. Clarifying this issue can provide insights into epilepsy therapies that target the disease mechanism and etiology rather than symptoms. Therefore, this study was aimed to investigate the dynamic changes of structural plasticity in a pilocarpine rat model of epilepsy.MethodsA single acute dose of pilocarpine (380 mg/kg, i.p.) was injected into adult male Wistar rats to induce status epilepticus (SE). Animal behavior was monitored for 2 h. Immunohistochemical staining was performed to evaluate neurogenesis in the CA3 and dentate gyrus (DG) regions of hippocampus using biomarkers Ki67 and doublecortin (DCX). The Golgi-Cox method was performed to analyze dendritic length and complexity. All experiments were performed in control rats (baseline), at 24 h after SE, on day 20 after SE (latent phase), after the first and 10th spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRS; chronic phase), and in non-epileptic rats (which did not manifest SRS 36 days after pilocarpine injection).ResultsSE significantly increased the number of Ki67 and DCX-positive cells, suggesting neurogenesis during the latent phase. The dendritic complexity monitoring showed that plasticity was altered differently during epilepsy and epileptogenesis, suggesting that the two processes are completely separate at molecular and physiological levels. The numbers of spines and mushroom-type spines were increased in the latent phase. However, the dendritogenesis and spine numbers did not increase in rats that were unable to manifest spontaneous seizures after SE.ConclusionAll parameters of structural plasticity that increase during epileptogenesis, are reduced by spontaneous seizure occurrence, which suggests that the development of epilepsy involves maladaptive plastic changes. Therefore, the maladaptive plasticity biomarkers can be used to predict epilepsy before development of SRS in the cases of serious brain injury.
Highlights
The role of neuroplasticity in epilepsy has been widely studied in experimental models and human brain samples
Epilepsy development is typically a three-phase process in humans and animal models: first, the occurrence of precipitating damage or events; second, a latent period which consists of molecular events that mediate the transformation of a normal to an epileptic brain; and third, chronically established epilepsy characterized by SRS [5]
Our results confirmed that spontaneous seizure significantly reduced spine density during chronic phase in comparison with latent phase which refers to neurodegeneration, it could be observed in epileptic patients [39]
Summary
The role of neuroplasticity in epilepsy has been widely studied in experimental models and human brain samples. The results are contradictory and it remains unclear if neuroplasticity is more related to the cause or the consequence of epileptic seizures. The molecular events underlying the conversion of a normal to an epileptic brain are not completely understood yet [2] Acquired brain pathology such as tumor, infection, stroke and traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes epilepsy after an unpredictable latent period [3]. Epilepsy development is typically a three-phase process in humans and animal models: first, the occurrence of precipitating damage or events; second, a latent period which consists of molecular events that mediate the transformation of a normal to an epileptic brain (epileptogenesis); and third, chronically established epilepsy characterized by SRS [5]. Previous studies have confirmed that seizure incidence and epileptogenesis are two distinct events because anticonvulsants which can terminate an ongoing seizure or prevent the occurrence of future seizures in epileptic patients are ineffective in blocking epileptogenesis [6]
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