Blood Flow Analysis in Epilepsy Using a Novel Stereological Approach

Abnormal Capillary Vasodynamics Contribute to Ictal Neurodegeneration in Epilepsy

“…There is a growing body of evidence indicating that NG2+ mural cells may contribute to blood flow control within capillary beds in normal function 7 8 9 10 11 18 . Consistent with prior observations 7 10 11 , we found capillary vasospasms in neurotypical animals ( Fig. 1 ), suggesting that active control of normal blood flow in capillary beds may not be solely due to pre-capillary mechanisms in arteries 19 , and that capillaries also control flow directly—through both active constrictive mural cell mechanisms and passive restrictive mechanisms.…”

“…One obstacle to determining the relative contributions of excitotoxicity and hypoxia to neurodegeneration has been that, whereas the effects of excitotoxicity can be tested in vitro , hypoxia due to microvascular ischemia can only be tested in vivo . The recent development of fiber-optic-bundle-coupled laser-scanning confocal fluorescence imaging (Confocal Laser Endomicroscopy—CLE) has made it possible to establish the contribution of microvascular dynamics to ictal neural degeneration 7 . In vitro 8 9 and in vivo 10 11 cortical imaging has shown pericyte-driven capillary constrictions as a function of both drug application and functional local neural activity in healthy animals 11 .…”