Incertal Control of the Amygdala Kindling Afterdischarges in Rats

Abstract

Amygdala kindling is a common animal model of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). However, there are greatly unknown rapid/slow kindlings with high or low current intensities on the amygdala and the development of seizure behaviour. The zona incerta (ZI) contains abundant GABAergic neurons, and it has demonstrated a significant role to stop frontal seizures. Although the ZI has mutual connections with the amygdala, there is unknown the ZI stimulation on amygdala kindling seizures. Wistar rats (n1⁄430) were randomly assigned into 3 groups, slow kindling (S), rapid kindling groupwith high-intensity stimulation (RH), and rapid kindling with low-intensity stimulation (RL) groups, to test kindling protocols of the right-side amygdala to evoke the afterdischarges (ADs). The RH group showed significantly longer AD durations and higher Racine’s stages than those of the other 2 groups. But the RH group had moderate burning sign in the amygdala. There were no significant difference between the RL and S groups in terms of AD duration, Racine’s stage, and anatomical identification. The RL finished the kindling process within 2 days, but the S group took 10 days. Moreover, Wistar rats (n1⁄410) developed tonic-clonic convulsion through the RL protocol. The threshold to stop amygdala kindleinduced ADswas significantly lower as stimulated duration of the ZI increased. Moreover, the 800-Hz ZI stimulation showed significantly lower threshold to stop the epileptic discharges compared to those of 130 and 400 Hz. The present study provides a valuable protocol for rapid amygdala kindling process with limit damage. High-frequency ZI stimulation has beneficial to stop epileptic discharges of the amygdala.