Effects of topiramate on neuronal damage in immature rats with chronic seizure

Objective To investigate the effects of topiramate(TPM)on neuronal damage in immature rat with chronic seizure.Methods Wistar rats aged 3 weeks were randomly divided into 5 groups.The rats in 4 of the groups were injected intraabdominally with pentylenetetrazol(PTZ)to construct a murine model of epilepsy and then assigned to receive gastric infusion with either distilled water(positive control group)or TPM at a dose of 20 mg/kg,40 mg/kg,or TPM 80 mg/kg(TPM groups)daily for 2 consecutive months.The rats in the remaining group received intraabdominal injection of normal saline and then gastric administration of distilled water(negative control group).Behaviors of the rats were recorded.Levels of serum neuron-specific enolase(NSE)were measured by ELISA and the pathological changes in hippocampus were observed.Results(1)No seizure developed in the negative control group.Fewer frequencies of seizure occurred and the attack was less severe in the TPM groups than in the positive control group.(2)NSE levels in the TPM groups were higher than those in the negative control group but markedly lower than those in the positive control group with a reversed association with the dosage of TPM.(3)No neuronal death in hippocampus was observed in the negative control group.The number of dead neurons was significantly lower in the TPM groups than in the positive control group with a reversed relation with the dosage of TPM.Conclusion TPM plays a protective role in epilepsy-induced neuronal damage in a dose-dependent manner.