Development of Susceptibility to Audiogenic Seizures following Cardiac Arrest Cerebral Ischemia in Rats

Abstract

Susceptibility to audiogenic seizures (AGS) was investigated in Sprague–Dawley rats subjected to cardiac arrest cerebral ischemia (CACI), produced by compression of the major cardiac vessels. The onset of AGS was regularly observed 1 day after CACI of >5 min duration. The duration of postischemic susceptibility to AGS was directly related to the density of cerebral ischemia, with 50% of more severely ischemic animals still showing AGS susceptibility 8 weeks after CACI. Lesioning of the inferior colliculi (IC) abolished the onset of AGS; no such effect was observed after lesioning the medial geniculate (MG). Glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) immunochemistry revealed ∼50% loss of GAD-positive neurons in the IC, which was similar in animals with various durations of AGS susceptibility. Otherwise, there was a conspicuous sprouting of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic terminals in the ventral thalamic nuclei, which peaked ∼1 month after the CACI. Evaluation of GABA-A inhibitory function in the hippocampus by the paired pulse stimulation revealed changes indicating loss of GABA-A inhibition coinciding with the onset of AGS, and its return in animals tested 2 months after CACI. Our observations suggest a potential role of GABA-ergic dysfunction in the postischemic development of AGS.