Investigation of neurogenesis in kindled Wistar albino rats.

Objective: The most common type of epilepsy affecting about 50 million people worldwide is temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Chemical and electrical kindling methods in animals can be used to form the TLE model. In this study, it was aimed to investigate neurogenesis by immunofluorescence methods in the hippocampus of adult Wistar rats, which were applied chemical kindling. Methods: Adult male Wistar albino rats weighing 250-300 gr were injected PTZ (35 mg/kg) subcutaneously every other day to produce chemical kindling (Wistar kindling 7th day group n=6; 14th day group n=6). Sham-operated control groups were injected physiological saline solution subcutaneously (Wistar shamoperated 7th day group n=6; 14th day group n=6). Animals having grade 5 seizures five times were considered to be kindled. Intracardiac perfusion was performed under deep anesthesia on the 7th and 14th days after the last grade 5 seizure. Then, the animals were decapitated and brain tissues were removed and incubated at 4°C overnight within the same fixative. The tissues were frozen at -80ºC and 5 μm sections were obtained with a cryomicrotome. Immunofluorescence methods were used to show doublecortin (DCX) positive newly formed neurons and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) positive cells. Sections were then examined under fluorescence microscope. Results: DCX positive cells were observed in the subgranular zone of gyrus dentatus in the control and kindling groups. An increase in GFAP positive cells in the kindling groups, compared to the control groups, was observed. Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicate the existence of neurogenesis in the control and kindled adult Wistar rats. The increase in GFAP positive cells in the kindling groups suggests astrogliosis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]