We conclude that in an acute model of temporal lobe ictogenesis, sustained inhibition without firing of EC principal neurons correlates with the onset of a focal seizure. The progression of the ictal discharge is contributed by a potassium-dependent change in reversal potential of inhibitory postsynaptic potentials. These findings demonstrate a prominent role of inhibitory networks during the transition to seizure in the EC.

Seizures initiate brain inflammation in glia and promote BBB damage that is independent of either leukocytes or blood-borne inflammatory molecules. Brain inflammation contributes to the duration and recurrence of seizures. This study supports the use of specific anti-inflammatory drugs in clinical conditions that present with intractable recurrent seizures.

Background and Purpose-Increased mortality after stroke is associated with brain edema formation and high plasma levels of the acute phase reactant C-reactive protein (CRP). The aim of this study was to examine whether CRP directly affects blood-brain barrier stability and to analyze the underlying signaling pathways. Methods-We used a cell coculture model of the blood-brain barrier and the guinea pig isolated whole brain preparation. Results-We could show that CRP at clinically relevant concentrations (10 to 20 g/mL) causes a disruption of the blood-brain barrier in both approaches. The results of our study further demonstrate CRP-induced activation of surface Fc␥ receptors CD16/32 followed by p38-mitogen-activated protein kinase-dependent reactive oxygen species formation by the NAD(P)H-oxidase. The resulting oxidative stress increased myosin light chain kinase activity leading to an activation of the contractile machinery. Blocking myosin light chain phosphorylation prevented the CRP-induced blood-brain barrier breakdown and the disruption of tight junctions. Conclusions-Our data identify a previously unrecognized mechanism linking CRP and brain edema formation and present a signaling pathway that offers new sites of therapeutic intervention.

Summary:Purpose: Aim of the study is to investigate the involvement of parahippocampal subregions in the generation and in the propagation of focal epileptiform discharges in an acute model of seizure generation in the temporal lobe induced by arterial application of bicuculline in the in vitro isolated guinea pig brain preparation.Methods: Electrophysiological recordings were simultaneously performed with single electrodes and multichannel silicon probes in the entorhinal, perirhinal, and piriform cortices and in the area CA1 of the hippocampus of the in vitro isolated guinea pig brain. Interictal and ictal epileptiform discharges restricted to the temporal region were induced by a brief (3-5 min) arterial perfusion of the GABA A receptor antagonist, bicuculline methiodide (50 µM). Current source density analysis of laminar field profiles performed with the silicon probes was carried out at different sites to establish network interactions responsible for the generation of epileptiform potentials. Nonlinear regression analysis was conducted on extracellular recordings during ictal onset in order to quantify the degree of interaction between fast activities generated at different sites, as well as time delays.Results: Experiments were performed in 31 isolated guinea pig brains. Bicuculline-induced interictal and ictal epileptiform activities that showed variability of spatial propagation and time course in the olfactory-temporal region. The most commonly observed pattern (n = 23) was characterized by the initial appearance of interictal spikes (ISs) in the piriform cortex (PC), which propagated to the lateral entorhinal region. Independent and asynchronous preictal spikes originated in the entorhinal cortex (EC)/hippocampus and progressed into ictal fast discharges (around 25 Hz) restricted to the entorhinal/hippocampal region. The local generation of fast activity was verified and confirmed both by CSD and phase shift analysis performed on laminar profiles. Fast activity was followed by synchronous afterdischarges that propagated to the perirhinal cortex (PRC) (but not to the PC). Within 1-9 min, the ictal discharge ceased and a postictal period of depression occurred, after which periodic ISs in the PC resumed. Unlike preictal ISs, postictal ISs propagated to the PRC.Conclusions: Several studies proposed that reciprocal connections between the entorhinal and the PRC are under a very efficient inhibitory control (1). We report that ISs determined by acute bicuculline treatment in the isolated guinea pig brain progress from the PC to the hippocampus/EC just before ictal onset. Ictal discharges are characterized by a peculiar pattern of fast activity that originates from the entorhinal/hippocampal region and only secondarily propagates to the PRC. Postictal propagation of ISs to the PRC occured exclusively when an ictal discharge was generated in the hippocampal/entorhinal region.The results suggest that reiteration of ictal events may promote changes in propagation pattern of epileptiform discharges that could a...

BackgroundTight-junction (TJ) protein degradation is a decisive step in hypoxic blood-brain barrier (BBB) breakdown in stroke. In this study we elucidated the impact of acute cerebral ischemia on TJ protein arrangement and the role of the apoptotic effector protease caspase-3 in this context.Methodology/Principal FindingsWe used an in vitro model of the neurovascular unit and the guinea pig whole brain preparation to analyze with immunohistochemical methods the BBB properties and neurovascular integrity. In both methodological approaches we observed rapid TJ protein disruptions after 30 min of oxygen and glucose deprivation or middle cerebral artery occlusion, which were accompanied by strong caspase-3 activation in brain endothelial cells (BEC). Surprisingly only few DNA-fragmentations were detected with TUNEL stainings in BEC. Z-DEVD-fmk, an irreversible caspase-3 inhibitor, partly blocked TJ disruptions and was protective on trans-endothelial electrical resistance.Conclusions/SignificanceOur data provide evidence that caspase-3 is rapidly activated during acute cerebral ischemia predominantly without triggering DNA-fragmentation in BEC. Further we detected fast TJ protein disruptions which could be partly blocked by caspase-3 inhibition with Z-DEVD-fmk. We suggest that the basis for clinically relevant BBB breakdown in form of TJ disruptions is initiated within minutes during ischemia and that caspase-3 contributes to this process.

Systemic application of the muscarinic agonist, pilocarpine, is commonly utilized to induce an acute status epilepticus that evolves into a chronic epileptic condition characterized by spontaneous seizures. Recent findings suggest that the status epilepticus induced by pilocarpine may be triggered by changes in the blood-brain barrier (BBB) permeability. We tested the role of the BBB in an acute pilocarpine model by using the in vitro model brain preparation and compared our finding with in vivo data. Arterial perfusion of the in vitro isolated guinea-pig brain with <1 mM pilocarpine did not cause epileptiform activity, but rather reduced synaptic transmission and induced steady fast (20-25 Hz) oscillatory activity in limbic cortices. These effects were reversibly blocked by co-perfusion of the muscarinic antagonist atropine sulfate (5 μM). Brain pilocarpine measurements in vivo and in vitro suggested modest BBB penetration. Pilocarpine induced epileptiform discharges only when perfused with compounds that enhance BBB permeability, such as bradykinin (n=2) or histamine (n=10). This pro-epileptic effect was abolished when the BBB-impermeable muscarinic antagonist atropine methyl bromide (5 μM) was co-perfused with histamine and pilocarpine. In the absence of BBB permeability enhancing drugs, pilocarpine induced epileptiform activity only after arterial perfusion at concentrations >10 mM. Ictal discharges correlated with a high intracerebral pilocarpine concentration measured by high pressure liquid chromatography.We propose that acute epileptiform discharges induced by pilocarpine treatment in the in vitro isolated brain preparation are mediated by a dose-dependent, atropine-sensitive muscarinic effect promoted by an increase in BBB permeability. Pilocarpine accumulation secondary to BBB permeability changes may contribute to in vivo ictogenesis in the pilocarpine epilepsy model. NIH Public Access Author ManuscriptNeuroscience. Author manuscript; available in PMC 2009 November 9. Published in final edited form as:Neuroscience. Pilocarpine is a non-selective muscarinic agonist (Maslanski et al., 1994) with a relatively high affinity for CNS muscarinic receptors (Hedlund and Bartfai, 1981) commonly utilized to develop an experimental model of temporal lobe epilepsy (Turski et al., 1989;Cavalheiro et al., 2006; but see Sloviter, 2005). In different animal species, i.p. injection of pilocarpine induces a convulsive status epilepticus (SE; i.e. sub-continuous generalized seizures that recur for several hours), followed within 2 weeks by a chronic epileptic condition that mimics human temporal lobe epilepsy (Cavalheiro et al., 2006). The initial SE is thought to be triggered by a cholinergic activation of excitatory neurons in specific brain regions that include limbic cortices. Such an effect is supposedly mediated by micro-molar concentrations of pilocarpine, since this drug shows a relatively poor brain penetration (Omori et al., 2004). Although studies directly assessing pilocarpine penetration across the ...

Interictal potentials are commonly observed between seizures in human epilepsies and in animal models of epilepsy. It is uncertain whether interictal spiking in partial epilepsies is causally related with the onset of an ictal discharge. To analyze the reciprocal correlation between interictal and ictal epileptiform events, we performed extracellular recordings in the limbic system of the in vitro isolated guinea pig brain preparation. Arterial perfusion of bicuculline (50 microM) in vitro consistently induced a focal ictal discharge in the hippocampal-entorhinal region that in one third of the experiments was associated with periodic interictal spikes in the piriform cortex. In the absence of active interictal spiking, the piriform cortex was secondarily invaded by the ictal discharge initiated in the hippocampal-entorhinal region, whereas no secondary ictal entrainment was observed in the presence of periodic piriform cortex spikes at circa 0.1 to 0.2 Hz. Similarly, ictal events never occurred when arterial perfusion of bicuculline was preceded by a local injection of the same drug in the piriform cortex, a procedure that induces a sustained interictal spiking. A reduced responsiveness to incoming paroxysmal discharges generated in the hippocampus was observed during the interval between two interictal spikes in the piriform cortex.

The morphofunctional preservation of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) was evaluated in the isolated guinea pig brain maintained in vitro by arterial perfusion. Electron microscopy evaluation after 5 hr in vitro demonstrated that cerebral capillaries and BBB specializations in this preparation retain features compatible with structural integrity. BBB-impermeable and -permeable atropine derivatives arterially perfused to antagonize carbachol-induced fast oscillatory activity confirmed the functional preservation of the BBB in vitro. To study BBB function further, changes in extracellular K+ concentration during arterial perfusion of a high-K+ solution were measured with K+-sensitive electrodes positioned in the cortex and, as control, at the brain venous outlet, where the solution perfused through the brain arterial system was collected. After 5 hr in vitro, the [K+](o) values measured during high-K+ perfusion in the piriform and entorhinal cortices were 5.02 +/- 0.17 mM (mean +/- SE) and 5.2 +/- 0.21 mM, respectively (n = 6). Coperfusion of the high-K+ solution with the Na+/K+ pump blocker ouabain (10 microM; n = 4) induced consistently spreading depression preceded by a rise in [K+](o). Finally, sporadic, isolated spots of extravasation of the fluorescent marker fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-dextran preferentially circumscribed to deep cortical layers was observed in brains perfused with FITC-dextran after 5 hr in vitro. The study demonstrates that the in vitro isolated guinea pig brain is viable for studying cerebrovascular interactions and BBB permeability of compounds active in the central nervous system.