Parvalbumin immunoreactivity and expression of GABAA receptor subunits in the thalamus after experimental TBI.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) causes 10-20% of acquired epilepsy in humans, resulting in an ictogenic region that is often located in the cerebral cortex. The thalamus provides heavy projections to the cortex and the activity of thalamocortical pathways is controlled by GABAergic afferents from the reticular nucleus of the thalamus (RT). As rats with TBI induced by lateral fluid-percussion injury (FPI) undergo epileptogenesis, we hypothesized that damage to the parvalbumin (PARV)-immunoreactive (ir) neurons in the RT is associated with seizure susceptibility after lateral FPI. To address this hypothesis, adult Sprague-Dawley rats (n=13) were injured with lateral FPI. At 6months post-TBI, each animal underwent a pentylenetetrazol (PTZ) seizure susceptibility test and 2weeks of continuous video-electroencephalography (EEG) monitoring for detection of the occurrence of spontaneous seizures. Thereafter, the brain was processed for PARV immunohistochemistry. We (a) estimated the total number of PARV-ir neurons in the RT using unbiased stereology, (b) measured the volume of the ventroposteromedial (VPM) and ventroposterolateral (VPL) nuclei of the thalamus, which receive PARV-ir inputs from the RT and project to the perilesional cortex, (c) quantified the density of PARV-ir terminals in the VPM-VPL, and (d) studied the expression of GABAA receptor subunits in a separate group of rats using laser-dissection of the thalamus followed by Real-Time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) array studies. At 6months post-TBI, only 64% of PARV-ir neurons were remaining in the RT ipsilaterally (p<0.001 as compared to controls) and 84% contralaterally (p<0.05). Accordingly, the volume of the ipsilateral RT was 58% of that in controls ipsilaterally (p<0.001) and 90% contralaterally (p>0.05). Also, the volume of the VPM-VPL was only 51% of that in controls ipsilaterally (p<0.001) and 91% contralaterally (p<0.05). The density of PARV-ir axonal labeling was remarkably increased in the lateral aspects of the VPM and VPL (both p<0.001). Expression of the ε- and θ-subunits of the GABAA receptor was down-regulated (0.152, p<0.01 and 0.302, p<0.05, respectively), which could relate to the inclusion of the hypothalamus into the tissue analyzed with RT-PCR arrays. In controls, the lower the number of PARV-ir neurons in the RT, the higher the seizure susceptibility in the PTZ test. Rats with TBI showed seizure susceptibility comparable to that in controls with the lowest number of PARV-ir neurons in the RT. Our data show that the RT and VPM-VPL undergo remarkable degeneration after lateral-FPI which results in reorganization of PARV-ir terminals in the VPM-VPL. The contribution of RT damage to seizure susceptibility and post-traumatic epileptogenesis deserves further studies.

Progressive loss of phasic, but not tonic, GABAA receptor-mediated inhibition in dentate granule cells in a model of post-traumatic epilepsy in rats.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a risk factor for the development of epilepsy, which can occur months to years after the insult. The hippocampus is particularly vulnerable to the pathophysiological effects of TBI. Here, we determined whether there are long-term changes in inhibition in the dentate gyrus that could contribute to the progressive susceptibility to seizures after TBI. We used severe lateral-fluid percussion brain injury to induce TBI in rats. In this model, spontaneous seizure activity, which involves the hippocampus, appears after a long latent period, resembling the human condition. We demonstrate that synaptic GABA(A) receptor-mediated inhibition is profoundly reduced in ipsilateral dentate granule cells 1 month after TBI. Moreover, synaptic inhibition decreases over time, and by 6 months after TBI, it is also significantly decreased contralaterally. Progressive loss of synaptic inhibition is paralleled by a decline in the number of parvalbumin-positive interneurons, but, in contrast to status epilepticus models, GABA(A) receptor subunit expression is largely unaltered. At both time points, the magnitude of tonic GABA(A) receptor-mediated currents after TBI is maintained, indicating a preservation of the inhibitory constraint of granule cells through tonic inhibition. Our results extend the time window during which strategies to target epileptogenesis may be effective.

Expression of urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor is increased during epileptogenesis in the rat hippocampus.

Urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) is functionally a pleiotropic mediator involved in cell adhesion, proliferation, differentiation and migration as well as in matrix degradation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis in cancer tissue. Comparable cellular alterations occur in the brain during post-injury tissue repair. As the first step to assess the role of uPAR in brain tissue remodeling, we tested a hypothesis that uPAR expression is altered in the hippocampus during epilepsy-related circuitry reorganization. Epileptogenesis was triggered by inducing status epilepticus (SE) with electrical stimulation of the amygdala in rats. To monitor the development of SE and the occurrence of spontaneous seizures animals were continuously video-EEG monitored until sacrificed (1, 2, 4 or 14 days after SE). The hippocampal expression of uPAR was studied with real time qPCR and immunohistochemistry. Double-immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy were used to investigate the expression of uPAR in astrocytes, microglia and neurons. We show that in the normal hippocampus the expression of uPAR was low and confined to small population of astrocytes and interneurons. In animals undergoing SE, uPAR expression increased dramatically, peaking at 1 and 4 days after SE. According to double-immunohistochemistry, uPAR was highly expressed in parvalbumin positive interneurons in the hippocampus and dentate gyrus, and in a subgroup of somatostatin and neuropeptide Y positive hilar interneurons. Increased uPAR expression during post-injury phase supports its contribution to tissue remodeling in the brain. Surviving hilar interneurons that are known to be denervated due to loss of afferent inputs in post-SE brain provide a target for future studies to investigate the contribution of uPAR in reinnervation of these cells, and to identify the signaling cascades that mediate the effects of uPAR.