Significance of Glutathione-Mediated Scavenger Potency in the Development of Seizure Susceptibility in the EL Mouse Brain

Abstract

It has been reported that oxidative stress is closely related to the development of seizure susceptibility. To investigate if the redox condition shifts to an oxidized state during ictogenesis in epilepsy-prone EL mice, which shows the first seizure episode at 8 to 10 weeks of age, changes in the activities in the hippocampus or parietal cortex of reduced glutathione (GSH), oxidized glutathione, glutathione peroxidase, and nitric oxide were examined. This study showed that GSH activities were lower and oxidized glutathione activities were higher in EL mice than in ddY mice, mother strain control of EL, even though glutathione peroxidase activities were higher in EL mice between the ages of 3 and 8 weeks. Similarly, nitric oxide activities were higher in EL mice. The study also showed that GSH-mediated scavenger potency was lower not only in the hippocampus but also in the parietal cortex of EL mice at an early age. This reduction in GSH-mediated scavenger potency may be related to the acquisition of epileptogenesis in both the primary (parietal cortex) and secondary (hippocampus) epileptogenic centers of EL mice.