Effects of maternal epileptic seizures in the development of the offspring

Abstract

The epilepsy is very common in about 1% of population affecting man and women and it is a neurological disturb more frequent in the obstetric practice, occurring in 0.3 to 0.6% of pregnancies. These pregnancies are classified as high risk and present a major probability of complications, and the accompaniment of epileptic women that demonstrate desire of to become pregnant present three practice questions: 1) Which are the effects of epilepsy in the pregnancy?; 2) the pregnancy in the epilepsy?; 3) the consequences of epilepsy and its treatment in the concept? Anterior experimental studies indicate that despite the immature brain is admitted resistant to transitory insults, either a newborn with neonatal seizures following uterine hypoxic insult or the offspring of epileptic rats present increased risks to malformations and alterations in the development. So, the general objective of the study is to analyse the effects of epilepsy during the pregnancy to the development of the offspring through the experimental model of epilepsy induced by pilocarpine. For this, adult Wistar rats will be submitted to the epilepsy model induced by pilocarpine (Pilocarpine, 350 mg/kg, Sigma) and that will be mate during the chronic period of model with the control of frequency seizures by video-monitored system. Parameters such as, occurrence of fertilization, time of pregnancy, inter-occurrences during the pregnancy, weight of rats, frequency and type of seizures, the presence or absence of abortion, protein profile of the milk (electrophoresis) will be analysed. The offspring will be evaluated immediately after the birth as to the number of offspring, number of male and female, weight and length of the animals, presence of dead born or gross malformations. The born to the adult age will be evaluate as to the growth and development (behaviour, learning and memory tests); neurochemistry profile of cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum (quantification of monoamines and aminoacids by HPLC); gasometry and glycemia profile in blood after the born; neuropsicomotor development of the offspring in the adult age; susceptibility of epilepsy of the offspring in the adult age (kindling model) and morphologic study of the brain of these animals (histological techniques as Nissl and neo-Timm). These results could give us an idea about the effects of maternal epileptic seizures, without the influence of antiepileptic drugs, in the offspring during the intrauterine life. (AU)