Objective To investigate and analyze the behavioral and pathological differences in early-stage mouse models of epilepsy established by 2 different administration routes for kainic acid(KA),intracerebroventricular(ICV)injection and intraperitoneal(IP)injection.Methods A total of 100 male C57BL/6N wild-type(WT)mice(20～22 g)were randomly divided into ICV+normal saline(NS)control group(n=10),ICV+KA model group(n=40),IP+NS control group(n=10)and IP+KA model group(n=40).The ICV+KA model group was given 600 nL of KA(0.5 mg/mL)via ICV injection,and the IP+KA model group was injected with different dose of KA(25 mg/kg).Two control groups were administered equal volumes of NS via corresponding routes.After 3 d of modeling,the evaluation of behavioristics,molecular biology(including Western blotting),and neuropathological assessments(including FJB staining,TUNEL staining and immunofluorescence staining)were performed.Results No epileptic seizures were observed in both 2 control groups,while exhibited seizures were observed in both model groups.The mortality rates of the IP+KA group and the ICV+KA group were 47.50%and 65.00%respectively,while the success rates of modeling were 80.00%and 60.00%respectively.Compared with the IP+KA group,the ICV+KA group showed a significant increase in success rate and a significant reduction in mortality rate.FJB and TUNEL staining results showed that,compared with the IP+KA group,the severity of neurodegeneration and apoptotic changes in the hippocampus of the ICV+KA group were more significant(P＜0.05).Compared with the IP+KA group,there was also a significant difference in the expression of apoptotic proteins in the hippocampus of the ICV+KA group(P＜0.05).Immunofluorescence results showed that the astrocytes and microglia in the hippocampus and cortex of the ICV+KA and IP+KA groups were significantly activated compared with the control groups(P＜0.05),but the activation of glial cells in the hippocampus and cortex of the ICV+KA group was stronger than that of the IP+KA model group(P＜0.05)and the activation levels in the ICV+KA group were higher than in the IP+KA model group(P＜0.01).Moreover,expression levels of GFAP and Iba-1 proteins in the hippocampus and cortex were higher in the ICV+KA group than the IP+KA group(P＜0.05).Conclusion Two routes of KA administration are effective in construct epilepsy models.The mice with ICV administration route show a higher success rate and lower mortality rate,and more significant neuropathological damage and glial cell activation.