SUMMARY
Purpose
To investigate the effects of low frequency stimulation (LFS) of a fiber track for the suppression of spontaneous seizures described by Nissinen in a rat model of human temporal lobe epilepsy.
Methods
Stimulation electrodes were implanted into the ventral hippocampal commissure (VHC) in a rat post-status epilepticus (SE) model of human temporal lobe epilepsy (n = 7). Two recordings electrodes were placed in the CA3 regions bilaterally and neural data was recorded for a minimum of six weeks. LFS (60 minute train of 1Hz biphasic square wave pulses, each 0.1ms in duration and 200μA in amplitude, followed by 15 minutes of rest) was applied to the VHC for, two weeks, 24 hours a day.
Key Findings
The baseline mean seizure frequency of the study animals was 3.7 seizures per day. The seizures were significantly reduced by the application of LFS in every animal (n=7). By the end of the two-week period of stimulation, there was a significant 90% (<1 seizure/day) reduction of seizure frequencies (p < 0.05) and a 57% reduction during the period following LFS (p < 0.05) when compared to baseline. LFS also resulted in a significant reduction of hippocampal interictal spike frequency (71%, p < 0.05), during two weeks LFS session. The hippocampal histological analysis showed no significant difference between rats that received LFS and SE-induction and those that had only received SE-induction. None of the animals showed any symptomatic hemorrhage, infection or complication.
Significance
LFS applied at a frequency of 1Hz significantly reduced both the excitability of the neural tissue as well as the seizure frequency in a rat model of human temporal lobe epilepsy. The results support the hypothesis that LFS of fiber tracts can be an effective method for the suppression of spontaneous seizures in a temporal lobe model of epilepsy in rats and could be lead to the development of the new therapeutic modality for human patients with temporal lobe epilepsy.
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