Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
5th International Eurasian Conference on Biological and Chemical Sciences (EurasianBioChem 2022), Ankara, Türkiye, 23 - 25 Kasım 2022, ss.370, (Özet Bildiri)
Experimental epilepsy models and histopathological changes in the central nervous system
Gülnihal ŞENOL1 (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9553-6021), Ayşe ÇAKIR GÜNDOĞDU1 (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2466-9417)
Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Kütahya Health Sciences University, Kütahya, Türkiye
*Corresponding author e-mail: gulnihal.senol@ksbu.edu.tr
Abstract
Epilepsy, a chronic neurological condition characterized by the recurrence of unprovoked seizures affecting about 65 million people worldwide, is a serious disease that needs to be treated as it increases the risk of death. Experimental studies are needed to elucidate the essential neuronal dysfunctions underlying epilepsy and to examine the pathological changes caused by the disease, select antiepileptic drugs, and develop new treatments. Human tissues except biopsy or autopsy materials cannot be used in research due to ethical restrictions. For this reason, preclinical studies are carried out by generating seizures similar to spontaneous and recurrent seizures in epilepsy by various methods in experimental animals. Experimental epilepsy models can be classified into three groups according to the model formation: (a) models created with convulsant chemicals or electrical stimulation, (b) reflex epilepsy models triggered by auditory or visual stimuli, and (c) idiopathic models using genetically epilepsy-prone animals. Since the seizures induced in these models can be simple partial, complex partial, generalized tonic-clonic, generalized absence, and status epilepticus, it should be considered which method produces which type of epilepsy when deciding on the experimental model. In addition, the age of onset, etiology of the disease, phenotype and EEG pattern of the seizure, and acute and long-term results of the disease should also be regarded in model selection. Different seizure inducers can cause distinct changes in cognitive and behavioral functions. Moreover, histopathologically, varying degrees of edema, neuronal pyknosis and apoptosis, a decrease in the number of neurons, and a reduction in hippocampal volume can be observed in the brain regions such as the amygdala, hippocampus, thalamus, neocortex, and olfactory cortex. This review summarizes the widely used experimental epilepsy models and mentions their similarities and differences in terms of cognitive and behavioral functions and histopathology.
Key words: Epilepsy, seizures, experimental animal models, histopathology.