Post-seizure α-tocopherol treatment decreases neuroinflammation and neuronal degeneration induced by status epilepticus in rat hippocampus

Mol Neurobiol. 2014 Aug;50(1):246-56. doi: 10.1007/s12035-014-8648-2. Epub 2014 Feb 2.

Abstract

Vitamin E (as α-tocopherol, α-T) was shown to have beneficial effects in epilepsy, mainly ascribed to its antioxidant properties. Besides radical-induced neurotoxicity, neuroinflammation is also involved in the pathophysiology of epilepsy, since neuroglial activation and cytokine production exacerbate seizure-induced neurotoxicity and contribute to epileptogenesis. We previously showed that α-T oral supplementation before inducing status epilepticus, markedly reduces astrocytic and microglial activation, neuronal cell death and oxidative stress in the hippocampus, as observed 4 days after seizure. In order to evaluate the possibility that such a neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory effect may also provide a strategy for an acute intervention in epilepsy, in this study, seizures were induced by single intaperitoneal injection of kainic acid and, starting from 3 h after status epilepticus, rats were treated with an intraperitoneal bolus of α-T (250 mg/kg b.w.; once a day) for 4 days, that was the time after which morphological and biochemical analyses were performed on hippocampus. Post-seizure α-T administration significantly reduced astrocytosis and microglia activation, and decreased neuron degeneration and spine loss; these effects were associated with the presence of a lowered lipid peroxidation in hippocampus. These results confirm and further emphasize the anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective role of α-T in kainic acid-induced epilepsy. Moreover, the findings show that post-seizure treatment with α-T provides an effective secondary prevention against post-seizure inflammation-induced brain damages and possibly against their epileptogenic effects.

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Cell Death / drug effects
  • Encephalitis / drug therapy*
  • Encephalitis / etiology
  • Encephalitis / pathology
  • Hippocampus / drug effects*
  • Hippocampus / pathology
  • Kainic Acid
  • Lipid Peroxidation / drug effects
  • Male
  • Nerve Degeneration / drug therapy*
  • Nerve Degeneration / etiology
  • Nerve Degeneration / pathology
  • Neuroprotective Agents / pharmacology
  • Neuroprotective Agents / therapeutic use*
  • Oxidative Stress / drug effects
  • Rats
  • Rats, Sprague-Dawley
  • Status Epilepticus / chemically induced
  • Status Epilepticus / complications
  • Status Epilepticus / drug therapy*
  • Status Epilepticus / pathology
  • alpha-Tocopherol / pharmacology
  • alpha-Tocopherol / therapeutic use*

Substances

  • Neuroprotective Agents
  • alpha-Tocopherol
  • Kainic Acid