All issues > Volume 45(12); 2002

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 2002;45(12):1551-1558. Published online December 15, 2002.

The Morphologic Changes of Parvalbumin- Immunoreactive Interneurons of the Dentate Gyrus in Kainate-Treated Mouse Hippocampal Slice Culture Epilepsy Model

Hee Sun HS Chung¹, Mi-Young MY Shin¹, Young-Hoon YH Kim¹, In-Goo IG Lee¹, Kyung-Tai KT Whang¹, Myung-Suk MS Kim²

¹Department of Pediatrics, College of Medicine, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea
²Department of Physiology, The Catholic University of Korea, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence Young-Hoon YH Kim ,Email: pedkyh@catholic.ac.kr

Abstract

Purpose
: Loss of hippocampal interneurons in dentate gyrus has been reported in patients with severe temporal lobe epilepsy and in animals treated with kainic acid(KA). Interneurons contain Ca2＋- binding protein parvalbumin(PV). The effects of kainic acid on parvalbumin-immunoreactive (PV-IR) interneurons in dentate gyrus were investigated in organotypic hippocampal slice cultures.
Methods
: Cultured hippocampal slices from postnatal day nine C57/BL6 mice were exposed to 10 μM KA, and were observed at 0, 8, 24, 48, 72 hours after a one hour KA exposure. Neuronal injury was determined by morphologic changes of PV-IR interneuron in dentate gyrus.
Results
: Transient(1 hour) exposure of hippocampal explant cultures to KA produced marked varicosities in dendrites of PV-IR interneuron in dentate gyrus and the shaft of interbeaded dendrite is often much thinner than those in control. The presence of varicosities in dendrites was reversible with KA washout. The dendrites of KA treated explants were no longer beaded at 8, 24, 48 and 72 hours after KA exposure. The number of cells in PV-IR interneurons in dentate gyrus was decreased at 0, 8 hours after exposure. But there was no significant difference in 24, 48 and 72 hours recovery group compared with control group.
Conclusion
: The results suggested that loss of PV-IR interneurons in dentate gyrus is transient, and is not accompanied by PV-IR interneuronal cell death.

Keywords :Kainic acid, Interneuron, Parvalbumin-immunoreactivity, Dentate gyrus