Paleocerebellar electrical stimulation induces the reduction of seizures and the development of absence epilepsy in rats with penicillin-induced epilepsy

Abstract

Administration of benzyl penicillin (300,00000 IU/kg, i.p.) in free moving Wistar rats causes the precipitation of spikes and generalized ictal potentials with a life-span of epileptic activity up to 6 hours. Periodic electrical stimulation (ES) of the paleocerebellum (100 Hz, 1 ms, 100-180 A duration of trial 1 s, inter-stimulus interval 3.5-4.0 min) is followed by a significant decrease of the power of epileptic activity, starting at the end of the second hour of stimulation. Moreover, a reduction of the duration of epileptic activity up to 4.0 hours was seen. In the frontal cortex spike-wave discharges (4-5/sec) can be registered starting from 135 to 175 minutes after stimulation. Spike-wave precipitation is followed by a decrease of the amplitude of spikes, by epileptic clonic seizures, by the development of freezing behavior, by tremor, chewing and licking and by other minor signs of absence epilepsy, by vibrissae twitching, by accelerated breathing, head tilting and by eye twitching. Hence, evidence on the absence form of epilepsy precipitation in the course of paleocerebellar-ES-induced suppression of generalized penicillin epilepsy is gained. 

Keywords

• Generalized epilepsy
• Cerebellar cortex
• Spike-wave discharges
• Ictal seizures
• Electrical stimulation
• Rat

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