Behavioral, neurochemical and brain oscillation abnormalities in an experimental model of acute liver failure

This study was divided into three cohorts: (1) rats clinically monitored after hepatectomy every 6 hours for 96 hours or until death; (2) rats tested in an open field task (OFT) before and after surgery and had blood, cerebrospinal fluid, and brain tissue collected after the last OFT; and (3) rats that had continuous EEGs recorded before and after surgery for 3 days. The hepatectomized rats presented significant motor behavioral changes accompanied by important abnormalities in classical blood laboratory parameters of ALF, and EEG features suggestive of HE and deep disturbances in the brain glutamatergic system. Using an animal model of ALF induced via subtotal hepatectomy, this work provides a comprehensive and reliable experimental model that increases the opportunity for studying the effects of new treatment strategies to be explored in an unprecedented way. It also presents insights into the pathophysiology of HE in a reproducible model of ALF, which correlates important neurochemical and EEG aspects of the syndrome.
Source: Neuroscience - Category: Neuroscience Source Type: research