Degeneration of cholinergic basal forebrain nuclei after focally evoked status epilepticus.

Degeneration of cholinergic basal forebrain nuclei after focally evoked status epilepticus. Neurobiol Dis. 2018 Sep 20;: Authors: Biagioni F, Gaglione A, Giorgi FS, Bucci D, Mojanova S, De Fusco A, Madonna M, Fornai F Abstract Status epilepticus of limbic onset might cause degenerative phenomena in different brain structures, and may be associated with chronic cognitive and EEG effects. In the present study SE was evoked focally by microinfusing picomolar doses of cyclothiazide+bicuculline into the anterior extent of the piriform cortex (APC) in rats, the so-called area tempestas, an approach which allows to evaluate selectively the effects of seizure spreading through the natural anatomical circuitries up to secondary generalization. In the brain of rats submitted to SE we analyzed neuronal density, occurrence of degenerative phenomena (by Fluoro-Jade B-FJB- staining) and expression of heat shock protein-70 (HSP-70) in the piriform cortex, the hippocampus and ventromedial thalamus. We further analyzed in detail, the loss of cholinergic neurons, and the presence of FJB- and HSP-70 positive neurons in basal forebrain cholinergic areas, i.e. the medial septal nucleus (MSN, Ch1), the diagonal band of Broca (DBB, Ch2 and Ch3) and the Nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM, Ch4). In fact, these nuclei are strictly connected with limbic structures, and play a key pivotal role in different cognitive functions and vigilance. Although recent studies...
Source: Neurobiology of Disease - Category: Neurology Authors: Tags: Neurobiol Dis Source Type: research