An improved brain slice model of nerve agent-induced seizure activity

Journal of Applied Toxicology : JAT
S J Wood, J E Tattersall

Abstract

A brain slice model was developed to investigate the mechanisms of seizure activity induced by soman and the effectiveness of potential anticonvulsant drugs. Unlike previously reported slice studies with nerve agents, this model contains the entorhinal cortex as well as the hippocampus. This allows the study of the spread of seizure discharges within the limbic system and the development of prolonged, sustained discharges that are rarely seen in the simple hippocampal slice preparation. Soman (1 microM) induced a second population spike in the evoked field potential in the CA1 or CA3 region within 15-20 min. In almost all the slices tested, this developed into spontaneous seizure activity within 30-40 min. As well as interictal bursts, many slices also showed longer periods of high-frequency bursting analogous to ictal seizure activity that originated in the entorhinal cortex. This activity appeared similar to that induced by the muscarinic agonist pilocarpine. Both the second population spike and the spontaneous discharges could be blocked by diazepam and by AMPA/kainate antagonists, but not by the NMDA antagonists AP5 and MK-801. This study confirms that the combined hippocampal-entorhinal cortex slice preparation is a suitab...Continue Reading

References

Oct 14, 1982·Brain Research·L S Benardo, D A Prince
Jan 1, 1993·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·J H McDonough, T M Shih
Nov 14, 1997·Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews·J H McDonough, T M Shih

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Citations

Aug 6, 2008·Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology·Ben Avi Weissman, Lily Raveh
Nov 17, 2015·Molecules : a Journal of Synthetic Chemistry and Natural Product Chemistry·Tetsade PiermartiriAnn M Marini
Sep 17, 2005·Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology·Xuan WuAnn M Marini
Sep 8, 2004·Journal of Neuroscience Research·Subramani Munirathinam, Ben A Bahr
Mar 20, 2004·The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics·Patrick K HarrisonJohn E H Tattersall

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