Effects of status epilepticus early in life on susceptibility to ischemic injury in adulthood

Purpose: Status epilepticus (SE) commonly occurs in children, whereas ischemic stroke is the most frequent neurologic insult in adults. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of SE induced in immature (15 days old; PN15) male rats, on susceptibility to subsequent transient focal cerebral ischemia induced in adulthood. Methods: SE was induced by flurothyl ether (FE) or kainic acid (KA). Rats that did not develop seizures after FE or KA served as controls. Five weeks later, the now-adult rats were subjected to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAo) for 1 or 2 h by using the intraluminal filament technique. The extent of the infarct volume was evaluated 24 h later. Results: In rats submitted to 1-h-long FE-SE, the volume of infarction was significantly reduced compared with that in rats exposed to FE without SE. Longer duration of FE-SE was acutely lethal. KA-SE induced prolonged behavioral SE (156 ± 17.5 min). In these rats, the volume of infarction was significantly larger compared with that in rats that did not show any electrographic seizures after KA administration. Comparison of FE and KA groups revealed that differences in the size of infarction were confined into cortical areas served by the MCA. Neither type of SE induced any obvious histologic changes in these neocortical regions before stroke induction. Conclusions: Early in life, SE can influence the outcome of a subsequent focal ischemic insult in adulthood. The extent of the infarct is related to the duration and cause of SE. Prolonged SE induced by KA worsens the outcome, whereas FE-SE has a neuroprotective effect. © 2005 International League Against Epilepsy.