Cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1R), which is traditionally located on axon terminals, plays an important role in the pathology of epilepsy and neurodegenerative diseases by modulating synaptic transmission. Using the pilocarpine model of chronic spontaneous recurrent seizures, which mimics the main features of mesial temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) with hippocampal sclerosis (HS) in humans, we examined the expression of CB1R in hippocampal astrocytes of epileptic rats. Furthermore, we also examined the expression of astrocytic CB1R in the resected hippocampi from patients with medically refractory mesial TLE. Using immunofluorescent double labeling, we found increased expression of astrocytic CB1R in hippocampi of epileptic rats, whereas expression of astrocytic CB1R was not detectable in hippocampi of saline treated animals. Furthermore, CB1R was also found in some astrocytes in sclerotic hippocampi in a subset of patients with intractable mesial TLE. Detection with immune electron microscopy showed that the expression of CB1R was increased in astrocytes of epileptic rats and modest levels of CB1R were also found on the astrocytic membrane of sclerotic hippocampi. These results suggest that increased expression of astrocytic CB1R in sclerotic hippocampi might be involved in the cellular basis of the effects of cannabinoids on epilepsy.
Keywords: Epilepsy; astrocyte; cannabinoid type 1 receptor; hippocampal sclerosis; immune electron microscopy.