Abstract
The present study aims to investigate effect of early caffeine exposure on epileptogenesis and occurrence of absence seizures and comorbid depression in adulthood. For this purpose, Wistar Albino Glaxo from Rijswijk (WAG/Rij) rats were enrolled in a control and two experimental groups on the 7th day after the delivery. The rats in experimental groups received either 10 or 20 mg/kg caffeine subcutaneously while animals in control group had subcutaneous injections of 0.9% saline. The injections started at postnatal day 7 (PND7) and were continued each day for 5 days. At 6–7 months of age, electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings and behavioral recordings in the forced swimming test, sucrose consumption/preference test and locomotor activity test were carried out. At 6 months of age, 10 mg/kg and 20 mg/kg caffeine-treated WAG/Rij rats showed increased immobility latency and active swimming duration in forced swimming test when compared with the untreated controls. In addition, 20 mg/kg caffeine treatment decreased immobility time. In sucrose preference/consumption tests, WAG/Rij rats in 10 mg/kg caffeine group demonstrated higher sucrose consumption and preference compared to untreated controls. The rats treated with 20 mg/kg caffeine showed higher sucrose preference compared to control rats. The exploratory activity of rats in the 10 mg/kg caffeine-treated group was found to be higher than in the 20 mg/kg caffeine-treated and control groups in the locomotor activity test. At 7 months of age, caffeine-treated animals showed a decreased spike-wave discharge (SWD) number compared to the control animals. These results indicate that postnatal caffeine treatment may decrease the number of seizure and depression-like behaviors in WAG/Rij rats in later life. Caffeine blockade of adenosine receptors during the early developmental period may have beneficial effects in reducing seizure frequency and depression-like behaviors in WAG/Rij rat model.
Highlights
Depression is a common mental disorder affecting 280 million people worldwide [1].Despite the availability of effective treatments for mental disorders including depression, people who experience depression are often not diagnosed correctly or receive no treatment [2]
These results indicate that postnatal caffeine treatment may decrease the number of seizure and depression-like behaviors in Wistar Albino Glaxo from Rijswijk (WAG/Rij) rats in later life
In rat pups treated with caffeine, latency to immobility was significantly longer than the rats in the control group (10 mg/kg vs. control p = 0.023; 20 mg/kg vs. control p < 0.001)
Summary
Depression is a common mental disorder affecting 280 million people worldwide [1]. Despite the availability of effective treatments for mental disorders including depression, people who experience depression are often not diagnosed correctly or receive no treatment [2]. Absence seizure incidence varies from 0.7 to 4.6 per 100,000 in the general population [3]. Many people with epilepsy do not receive appropriate and adequate treatment for their condition. This is defined as a phenomenon called the treatment gap. Many developing countries with limited resources struggle to develop and implement policies to prevent an increase in the treatment gap. Prevention or early diagnosis and intervention programs have been developed to reduce the burden of these two disorders
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