Role of anterior thalamic nucleus in trigeminal nerve electrostimulation-induced reduction of seizures and hippocampal damage
10.3969/j.issn.1000-4718.2014.12.023
- VernacularTitle:丘脑前核在三叉神经电刺激减轻癫痫发作和海马神经元损伤中的作用
- Author:
Xianhong WANG
;
Miaomiao TIAN
;
Qingqing PAN
;
Yanan LU
;
Yu WANG
- Publication Type:Journal Article
- Keywords:
Epilepsy;
Trigeminal nerve electrostimulation;
Neuroprotection;
Stereotactic lesion;
Anterior tha-lamic nucleus
- From:
Chinese Journal of Pathophysiology
2014;(12):2249-2253,2304
- CountryChina
- Language:Chinese
-
Abstract:
[ ABSTRACT] AIM: To investigate the role of anterior thalamic nucleus in trigeminal nerve electrostimulation ( TNS)-induced effects on seizures and hippocampal damage.METHODS: The rats were intraperitoneally injected with pilocarpine to induce chronic epilepsy, and then received sham treatment, TNS treatment and TNS treatment after stereotac-tic lesion to the anterior thalamic nucleus.The TNS treatment lasted for 1 month in each group.Another injection of pilo-carpine was conducted to induce seizures, and the severity and duration of seizures were quantitatively evaluated.TUNEL, Fluoro-Jade B ( FJB) and Nissl staining were applied to determine in situ apoptosis, neuronal degeneration and neuron loss in the hippocampal CA1 area respectively.RESULTS:Compared with TNS group, TNS treatment after stereotactic lesion to the anterior thalamic nucleus significantly increased the severity and duration of seizures (P<0.05), and the numbers of TUNEL positive cells, FJB positive cells and lost neurons in the hippocampal CA1 area (P<0.01).CONCLUSION:Anterior thalamic nucleus plays a role in TNS-induced reduction of seizures and hippocampal damage.The mechanisms might be due to the chronically activation of the cortex through anterior thalamic nucleus pathway induced by TNS, resulting in the down-regulation of neuronal excitatory susceptibility.
