1Department of Pharmacology, Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology of the Ministry of Health of China, Zhejiang Province Key Laboratory of Neurobiology, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
2Zhejiang Chinese Medical University, Hangzhou 310053, China
3Department of Neurology, First Affi liated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou 310058, China
4Epilepsy Center, Department of Neurology, Second Affiliated Hospital, School of Medicine, Zhejiang University, Hangzhou 310058, China
#These authors contributed equally to this work.
Corresponding author: Zhong Chen. E-mail: chenzhong@zju.edu.cn

Abstract 

Prospective and experimental studies have shown that individuals with early-life complex/prolonged febrile seizures (FSs) have a high incidence of temporal lobe epilepsy during adulthood, revealing a close relationship between FSs and epilepsy. However, little is known about how epileptogenesis develops after FSs. The present study was designed to investigate acquired seizure susceptibility and analyze local fi eld potentials during the latent period after FSs. We found that the seizure susceptibility decreased in 35-dayold (P35) FS rats but increased in P60 FS rats. Consistently, hippocampal electroencephalogram (EEG) power in every band was decreased at P35 but increased at P60 in FS rats. Our results provide direct evidence for hypoactivity but not hyperactivity during the early phase of the latent period, displaying a broad decrease in hippocampal rhythms. These characteristic EEG changes can be a useful biomarker for the early diagnosis of epileptogenesis induced by FSs.

Keywords

febrile seizure; seizure susceptibility; epilepsy; hippocampal rhythms

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