Changes of CA1 Excitability in Rats after Prenatal Methylazoxymethanol Treatment

ABSTRACT

Experimentally induced cortical disorganization exhibits many anatomical features which are characteristic of cortical malformations in children with early-onset epilepsy. We used an immunocytochemical technique and extracellular field potential recordings from the dorsal hippocampus to determine whether the excitability of the CA1 pyramidal cells was enhanced in rats with experimentally induced hippocampal dysplasia. Compared with control rats, the MAM-treated rats displayed a decrease of paired pulse inhibition. When GABAA receptor antagonists were blocked with 10microM bicuculline, the amplitude of the second population spike of the MAM-treated of rats was similar to that of the first population spike, as was in the control rats. The MAM-treated rats had fewer somatostatin and parvalbumin-immunoreactive neurons than the control rats. These results suggest that the enhanced neuronal responsiveness of the in vivo recording of the CA1 in this animal model may involve a reduction of CA1 inhibition.