Biomedical subjects

K Z Haas

Publications and source records attributed to K Z Haas.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

Kindling in developing animals: interactions between ipsilateral foci.

In adult rats, concurrent kindling of two limbic sites, alternating stimulation to each site, often results in the retarding of kindling at one or both sites. This inhibitory interaction between two limbic kindling foci is termed kindling antagonism and occurs irrespective of whether the sites are contralateral or ipsilateral. We have previously shown that kindling antagonism does not occur when 16- to 17-day-old rat pups are concurrently kindled in the hippocampus and contralateral amygdala or between the two amygdalae. In this study, adult and 16- to 17-day-old rats were concurrently kindled in the hippocampus and ipsilateral amygdala to determine if the local intrahemispheric mechanisms suppressing multiple kindled foci are age-dependent. Kindling antagonism occurred in 7 out of 10 adult rats. In contrast, in rat pups, kindling development was not suppressed. Concurrent kindling of the two limbic sites enhanced the development of severe seizures. Two 16- to 17-day-old rats receiving alternating stimulations exhibited spontaneous seizures. The age-specific failure of both inter- and intrahemispheric mechanisms to suppress the development of multiple kindling foci may explain the high incidence of multifocal seizures in the immature CNS.

Amygdala↗

PubMed1992

Enhanced sensitivity of hippocampal pyramidal neurons from mdx mice to hypoxia-induced loss of synaptic transmission.

The gene at the Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy locus encodes dystrophin, a member of a protein superfamily that links the actin cytoskeleton to transmembrane plasmalemmal proteins. In mature skeletal myocytes, the absence of dystrophin is associated with decreased membrane stability, altered kinetics of several calcium channels, and increased intracellular calcium concentration. In the central nervous system, dystrophin is restricted to specific neuronal populations that show heightened susceptibility to excitotoxic damage and is localized in proximal dendrites and the neuronal somata. We report that CA1 pyramidal neurons in a hippocampal slice preparation from a dystrophin-deficient mouse genetic model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (the mdx mouse) exhibit significant increased susceptibility to hypoxia-induced damage to synaptic transmission. This selective vulnerability was substantially ameliorated by pretreatment with diphenylhydantoin, an anticonvulsant that blocks both sodium-dependent action potentials and low-threshold transient calcium conductances. These findings suggest that dystrophin deficiency could predispose susceptible neuronal populations to cumulative hypoxic insults that may contribute to the development of cognitive deficits in Duchenne/Becker muscular dystrophy patients and that the effects of such periods of hypoxia may be pharmacologically remediable.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Resistance of the immature hippocampus to seizure-induced synaptic reorganization.

Temporal lobe epilepsy is a common form of epilepsy in human adults and is associated with a unique pattern of damage in the hippocampus. The damage includes cell loss of the CA3 and CA4 areas and synaptic growth (sprouting) of mossy fibers in the supragranular layer of the dentate gyrus. Experimental evidence indicates that in adult rats the excitatory amino acid, kainic acid, induces a similar pattern of changes in hippocampal circuitry associated with alterations in perforant path excitation and inhibition. It has been suggested that, in humans, this type of damage may be a result of seizures early in life. In this study we examined the effects of kainic acid-induced status epilepticus on synaptic reorganization and paired-pulse electrophysiology in developing rats and adults. Kainic acid induced more severe seizures in 15-day-old rat pups than in adults. In contrast to adult rats, these seizures did not produce CA3/CA4 neuronal loss, mossy fiber sprouting or changes in paired-pulse excitation or inhibition in the hippocampus of rat pups tested 2-4 weeks after status epilepticus. Our results provide evidence that the immature hippocampus may be more resistant to seizure-induced changes than the mature hippocampus.

Animals↗

PubMed1990

Kindling in developing animals: expression of severe seizures and enhanced development of bilateral foci.

In adult rats, alternating stimulations between two limbic sites can result in one site kindling normally, while the other is retarded in an early non-generalized kindling stage. This phenomenon has been named kindling antagonism. In this report, we present data indicating that kindling antagonism does not occur in 16-day-old rats. Instead, 16-day-old rats receiving alternating stimulations in the amygdala and hippocampus develop progressively more severe seizures. Kindling with alternate stimulations is elicited at a much faster rate at the two foci compared to kindling from a single site, either the hippocampus or amygdala. All groups develop generalized seizures including seizure stages 6 and 7, consisting of wild jumping, running with vocalizations and tonus. These seizures appear after relatively few stimulations in the pup, in comparison to the adult. The results indicate that the immature brain is less able to suppress the generalization of seizures than the adult. The age-specific enhanced development of bilateral foci may be due to underdeveloped inhibitory systems and may underlie the propensity of the immature CNS to develop multifocal seizures.

Amygdala↗