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Background: Patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) usually suffer from cognitive deficits and recurrent seizures. Brivaracetam (BRV) is a novel anti-epileptic drug (AEDs) recently used for the treatment of partial seizures with or without secondary generalization. Different from other AEDs, BRV has some favorable properties on synaptic plasticity. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. Objective: The aim of this study was to explore the neuroprotective mechanism of BRV on synaptic plasticity in experimental TLE rats. Methods: The effect of chronic treatment with BRV (10 mg/kg) was assessed on Pilocarpine induced TLE model through measurement of the field excitatory postsynaptic potentials (fEPSPs) in vivo. Differentially expressed synaptic vesicle protein 2A (SV2A) were identified with immunoblot. Then, fast phosphorylation of synaptosomal-associated protein 25 (SNAP-25) during long-term potentiation (LTP) induction was performed to investigate the potential roles of BRV on synaptic plasticity in the TLE model. Results: An increased level of SV2A accompanied by a depressed LTP in the hippocampus was shown in epileptic rats. Furthermore, BRV treatment continued for more than 30 days improved the over-expression of SV2A and reversed the synaptic dysfunction in epileptic rats. Additionally, BRV treatment alleviates the abnormal SNAP-25 phosphorylation at Ser187 during LTP induction in epileptic ones, which is relevant to the modulation of synaptic vesicles exocytosis and voltagegated calcium channels. Conclusion: BRV treatment ameliorated the over-expression of SV2A in the hippocampus and rescued the synaptic dysfunction in epileptic rats. These results identify the neuroprotective effect of BRV on TLE model.

A 42-year-old woman with reversible splenial lesion syndrome (RESLES) and rectal adenocarcinoma presented with sudden-onset delirium after the sixth cycle of her chemotherapy drug, oral tegafur-uracil (300 mg/m/day, days 1-14, with treatment cycle repeated every 21 days). Accompanied by the anti-CV2 antibody, paraphasia, and a loss of bimanual coordination, the patient's etiology and clinical manifestations of RESLES are unlike those of other reported cases of RESLES. Tegafur-uracil is an oral fluoropyrimidine that has a similar effect to 5-fluorouracil as an adjuvant treatment for colorectal cancer. The possibility that the toxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs may play a role in the pathogenesis of cytotoxic edema in the splenium of the corpus callosum and extracallosal white matter should be investigated further.

Mitochondrial myopathy, encephalopathy, lactic acidosis and stroke-like episodes (MELAS) is a clinical syndrome associated with mitochondrial disorders (MIDs). This report illustrates a case of MELAS syndrome with hypothyroidism and psychiatric disorders, which is different from the common clinical manifestations of MELAS syndrome, such as exercise intolerance, migraine-like headaches, hearing loss and seizures etc. There are considerable interests in the possibility that mitochondrial dysfunction may play a role in the pathogenesis of endocrine dysfunctions and psychiatric disorders in MELAS syndrome., Highlights • We presented an adult MELAS patient with a mutation at A3243G point. • Hypothyroidism and psychiatric disorder were observed as accompanying symptoms. • MRI findings were typical and provided clues to diagnose the underlying MELAS.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the common form of epilepsy in adults, often displays complex partial seizures and cognitive deficits. The underlying mechanisms of such deficits are not yet well understood. Many contributing factors, such as initial epileptogenic lesion, seizure type, age of onset, and treatment side effects have been proposed. Levetiracetam (LEV) is a novel anti-epileptic drug (AED) used to treat partial seizures and idiopathic generalized epilepsy. It has been suggested that LEV exerts antiepileptic properties by modulation of synaptic release of neurotransmitters. However, its neuroprotective effects on learning and memory are not yet well demonstrated. Here we showed the impairment of spatial memory in the pilocarpine-induced experimental TLE rats, which can be improved by LEV. Furthermore, we found chronic LEV treatment partially reversed the SE-induced synaptic dysfunction in hippocampal LTP induction in vivo. In addition, LEV treatment can alleviate the SE-induced abnormal GluR1 phosphorylation at Ser(831) site, which may contribute to the rescue of synaptic transmission. These results indicate the neuroprotective role for LEV while it exhibits an antiseizure effect on experimental epileptic models.

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), the most prevalent form of epilepsy, is often associated with drug-resistant seizures. In TLE, altered function of γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA)A receptors (GABAARs) results in potentiation of excitatory and/or failure of inhibitory neurotransmission, which contributes to seizure induction and propagation. Our previous study suggested that chloride channel-2 (Clc-2) contributed to chronically elevated tonic inhibition mediated by GABAARs in a rat model of TLE. In the present study, we used Clc-2 knockout mice to investigate further the role of Clc-2 and its interaction with tonic GABAergic inhibition in a model of TLE. The results revealed that knockout of Clc-2 decreased tonic seizure protection, latency of clonic seizure, seizure threshold and mortality protection in mice. Clc-2 knockout decreased the action potential (AP)peak and APthreshold, Clc-2 currents and GABAAR-mediated tonic inhibition in CA1 pyramidal neurons. Thus, the voltage-gated chloride channel Clc-2, which was functionally upregulated in CA1 pyramidal cells after seizures, may provide protection against TLE by its regulation of action potentials, Clc-2 currents and GABAARs in the CA1 region of the hippocampus.

Clonidine, a specific alpha2-adrenergic receptor agonist, has been found to be effective for the treatment of neuropathic pain, the mechanism underlying the effect is, however, not well understood. Here, the effect of clonidine on long-term potentiation (LTP) of C-fiber evoked field potentials in spinal dorsal horn, which is a synaptic model of injury-induced hyperalgesia, was investigated. LTP of C-fiber evoked field potentials was recorded in the superficial layers of spinal dorsal horn in anesthetized adult Sprague-Dawley rats. Clonidine and other substances were applied locally at the recording spinal segments before or after LTP induction by tetanic stimulation. We found that (1) Clonidine completely blocked LTP induction, when applied 30 min before tetanic stimulation and depressed spinal LTP, when applied 30 min and 3 h after LTP induction. (2) The inhibitory effect of clonidine on spinal LTP had two phases: a fast phase lasting for about 3.5 h and a slow phase persisting for the rest time of experiments (up to 8 h after drug). (3) Spinal clonidine at low dose (10.7 micro g/100 micro l) depressed spinal LTP but not C-fiber baseline response and at higher dose (107 micro g/100 micro l) depressed both of them. (4) Pretreatment with alpha2-adrenergic receptor antagonist yohimbine completely blocked the inhibitory effect of clonidine. (5) Pretreatment with muscarinic receptor antagonist atropine, nitric oxide synthesis inhibitor l-NNA or cGMP inhibitor ODQ depressed the fast phase inhibition significantly and abolished the slow phase inhibition completely. These results suggest that clonidine may exert analgesic effect by depressing the synaptic plasticity in spinal dorsal horn, via activation of muscarinic receptor-NO-cGMP pathway.

Compelling evidence shows that the adjacent uninjured primary afferents play an important role in the development of neuropathic pain after nerve injury. The underlying mechanisms, however, are largely unknown. In the present study, the selective motor fiber injury was performed by L5 ventral root transection (L5 VRT), and p38 activation in dorsal root ganglia (DRG) and L5 spinal dorsal horn was examined. The results showed that phospho-p38 immunoreactivity (p-p38-IR) was increased in both L4 and L5 DRGs, starting on day 1 and persisting for nearly 3 weeks (P

The benzodiazepine diazepam impairs memory and long-term potentiation (LTP) in the hippocampus. Here, we investigate the effect of diazepam on LTP of C-fiber evoked field potentials in spinal dorsal horn, which is relevant to pathological pain. LTP of C-fiber evoked field potentials was recorded in the superficial layers of spinal dorsal horn in urethane-anesthetized Sprague--Dawley rats. Diazepam was applied locally at the recording spinal segments before and after LTP induction by tetanic stimulation. We found (1) Diazepam completely blocked LTP induction. (2) Diazepam and midazolam reversed spinal LTP, when applied at 30 min after LTP induction and depressed but could not reverse spinal LTP, when applied at 3 h after LTP induction. (3) Pretreatment with benzodiazepine receptor antagonist flumazenil or GABA(A) receptor antagonist bicuculline completely blocked the inhibitory effects of diazepam on spinal LTP. In contrast, when the inhibitory effect of diazepam was fully established, neither of these antagonists was capable of reversing the inhibition by diazepam. (4) Spinal application of the GABA(A) receptor agonist 3-amino-1-propanesulfonic acid (3-APSA) at a dose of 50 microg, produced a transient inhibition of spinal LTP. These results suggest that diazepam might prevent and depress spinal plastic change produced by noxious stimulation via activation of the GABA(A) -benzodiazepine receptor complex.