Cellular effects of deep brain stimulation in anterior thalamus nucleus in experimental models of temporal lobe epilepsy

Abstract

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is among the most frequent disturb of central nervous system. In clinical practice, deep brain stimulation (DBS) has been the alternative choice for treatment of those patients non responsive to conventional antiepileptic drugs and also, are not good candidates for surgical resection of epileptic foci. As the anterior thalamus nucleus (NA) has a central localization in the limbic circuitry, has been the most frequently target for DBS to control seizures. In previous studies, our group have demonstrated that the 500μA current intensity is able to reduce the latency to status epilepticus (SE) onset after pilocarpine systemic injection. In spite of good results obtained in clinical trials and in experimental models of epilepsy, it action mechanisms remain unknown. In this study our aim is to investigate hippocampal cellular alteration caused by NA DBS in different phases of the pilocarpine model of TLE. (AU)