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Effect of acute pentylenetetrazol injection induced epileptic seizures on rat dentate gyrus at different postnatal ages

Research Authors
Heba K Mohamed
Sohair A Eltony
Research Department
Research Journal
Anat Cell Biol
Research Publisher
NULL
Research Rank
1
Research Vol
53
Research Website
NULL
Research Year
2020
Research_Pages
84-94
Research Abstract

Epilepsy is one of the most common neurological disorders, its prevalence approximately from 0.5% to 2% of the general population. Generalized seizures could lead to several morphological changes in the brain. This study aimed to investigate the morphological effects of a single convulsive dose of pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) on rat dentate gyrus at different postnatal ages. Thirty-six male Wistar rats were used at the following postnatal ages: P10, P21, and P90 (12 rats per each age). The animals in each age were equally divided into two groups: group I, control and group II, treated with a single intraperitoneal injection of PTZ (55 mg/kg). After confirmation of generalized tonic-clonic seizures, specimens from the right dentate gyrus were processed for light and electron microscopy. In PTZ-treated groups, the number of granule cells significantly decreased. Dark granule cells appeared in the deep layers of the granule cells in P10 and with the progress of age, they significantly increased in number and extended into the superficial layers of the granule cells. The dendritic spines diminished. Glial fibrillary acidic protein and caspase-3 expression increased. Ultrastructurally, granule cells showed irregular shaped nucleus, dilated rough endoplasmic reticulum (RER) cisternae, mitochondria with damaged cristae, large vacuoles, lysosomes, and lipofuscin granules. Dark granule cells characterized by electron-dense nucleus and cytoplasm containing disorganized Golgi bodies, swollen mitochondria with damaged cristae, numerous free ribosomes and few long strands of RER. Astrocytes had hypertrophied cell body. Acute treatment with PTZ-induced epileptic seizures caused toxic effect on the structure of rat dentate gyrus at different postnatal ages.