Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0036572 (seizures)
 80,221 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

To elucidate the role of the perirhinal cortex (PRC) in experimental epilepsy, the effects of the lesion of the PRC on kainic acid (KA)-induced limbic seizure were investigated. The PRC lesion was made by means of ibotenic acid (IBO) microinjection. The electroencephalogram in the PRC-lesioned rats demonstrated suppression of the propagation of epileptic discharges from the limbic structures to the sensorimotor cortex. Behaviorally, motor manifestations such as mastication, facial twitching and forelimb clonus were attenuated. These results indicate that the PRC seems to be a potent relay station of the secondary generalization from the limbic structures to the sensorimotor cortex.
 ...
PMID:Perirhinal cortical lesion suppresses the secondary generalization in kainic acid-induced limbic seizure. 1219 48

Pertussis, also known as whooping cough, is a highly contagious disease, which is most dangerous to infants less than one year old. About half of the babies reported nationally to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as having the disease are hospitalized. As many as 16/100 babies reported with pertussis get pneumonia, and about 2/100 have convulsions. For those babies reported to have pertussis, about 1/500 has brain problems, some of which can become permanent, and about 1/250 will die because of complications from the disease. Serious illness is less likely in older children and adults. Pertussis vaccine is generally administered in combination with diphtheria and tetanus vaccines, known as DTP vaccine. A primary series of DTP keeps 70-90/100 children from getting pertussis, usually through the elementary school years at least. About half of the children who receive DTP vaccine will not experience any discomfort at all. Some will have minor problems such as soreness, swelling and redness where the shot was given; fever; fussiness; drowsiness; and loss of appetite lasting 1-2 days. Once per 100 to 1000 shots, moderate problems can occur: crying non-stop for 3 hours or more, fever of 105 degrees (F) or higher. For 1 shot in 1750, a child may experience a seizure (convulsions, fits, spasms, twitching, jerking, or staring spells) usually caused by fever, or collapse or fainting (becoming blue, pale, limp, and non-responsive). Very rarely, DTP causes long seizures, decreased consciousness, or coma that usually does not last. Permanent brain damage can very infrequently follow such acute brain problems. There are no tests that can tell in advance if a child will be adversely affected by the DTP vaccine. Definitely the benefits from the DTP vaccine far outweigh the risks for almost all children.
 ...
PMID:Facts about pertussis and DTP vaccine. 1234 38

We report an uncommon association of intractable epilepsia partialis continua that was the main presentation of widespread gliomatosis cerebri in two females. Both children had a preceding prolonged secondary generalized seizure 2-4 months before the evolution of epilepsia partialis continua, including recurrent clusters of left-sided myoclonic twitching and sensory impairment. During these events, the children remained fully alert. These seizures were corroborated by prolonged focal epileptic spike/wave discharges evident on the electroencephalograms. Cerebral magnetic resonance imaging in the first patient demonstrated a wide area of increasing signals over the right frontocentral regions, along with diffuse cortical-subcortical infiltration impinging on the left hemisphere. In the second patient a cortical lesion was suspected. Evaluation for Rasmussen's encephalitis, focal cortical dysplasia, or a gliomatous process was conducted; the patients underwent a stereotactic brain biopsy in which the histologic findings were compatible with gliomatosis cerebri with diffuse widespread infiltration of glioma cells with no constitution of a circumscribed tumor mass. The first patient was treated with cranial radiation, chemotherapy, steroids, and combined antiepileptic therapy. The focal seizures gradually but markedly decreased in frequency, and sensory impairment abated within 18 months after establishment of the diagnosis and ensuing therapy. Cognition remains intact. The second female died 2 years after presentation despite massive chemotherapy and antiepileptic medications. Although rare, gliomatosis cerebri should be taken into account in the differential diagnosis of epilepsia partialis continua in children to facilitate a rapid diagnosis and initiation of prompt treatment of this rare disorder that may respond to a concurrent effective combination of cranial radiation, chemotherapy, and antiepileptic medications.
 ...
PMID:Epilepsia partialis continua associated with widespread gliomatosis cerebri. 1250 9

Nonconvulsive status epilepticus (NCSE) is much more common than is generally appreciated. It is certainly underdiagnosed, but its presentation is protean. Diagnostic criteria and treatment are controversial. Absence status is characterized by confusion or diminished responsiveness, with occasional blinking or twitching, lasting hours to days, with generalized spike and slow wave discharges on the EEG. Complex partial status consists of prolonged or repetitive complex partial seizures (with a presumed focal onset) and produces an "epileptic twilight state" with fluctuating lack of responsiveness or confusion. There is a clear overlapping of syndromes. Other confused, stuporous, or comatose patients with rapid, rhythmic, epileptiform discharges on the EEG may have "electrographic" status and should be considered in the same diagnostic category. NCSE typically occurs following supposedly controlled convulsions or other seizures, but with persistent neurologic dysfunction despite apparently adequate treatment. Confusion in the elderly or among emergency room patients is also a typical setting. The diagnosis of NCSE usually involves an abnormal mental status with diminished responsiveness, a supportive EEG, and often a response to anticonvulsant medication. All patients have clinical neurologic deficits, but the EEG findings and response to seizure medication are variable and are more controversial criteria. The response to drugs can be delayed for up to days. Experimental models and pathologic studies showing neuronal damage from status epilepticus pertain primarily to generalized convulsive status. Most morbidity from NCSE appears due to the underlying illness rather than to the NCSE itself. Some cases of prolonged NCSE or those with concomitant systemic illness, focal lesions, or very rapid epileptiform discharges may suffer more long-lasting damage. Although clinical studies show little evidence of permanent neurologic injury, the prolonged memory dysfunction in several cases and the similarities to convulsive status suggest that NCSE should be treated expeditiously. The diagnosis is important to make because NCSE impairs the patient's health significantly, and it is often a treatable and completely reversible condition.
 ...
PMID:Presentation, evaluation, and treatment of nonconvulsive status epilepticus. 1260 61

Chlorambucil is an alkylating agent commonly used in veterinary oncology for conditions including lymphoma. Chlorambucil neurotoxicity has been well recognized in human patients. Onsets of central nervous system signs, such as myoclonus, tremors, muscular twitching, agitation, and tonic-clonic seizures, have been reported in humans and laboratory animals treated with chlorambucil. This case of a cat with intestinal lymphoma represents the first veterinary patient reported to have chlorambucil-induced neurotoxicity. Neurotoxicity should be considered a potential side effect of chlorambucil therapy in veterinary patients.
 ...
PMID:Chlorambucil-induced myoclonus in a cat with lymphoma. 1275 2

A distinct high-voltage rhythmic spike (HVRS) discharge characterized by a barrage of negative spikes oscillating at 5-12 Hz was observed in chronically implanted Long Evans rats. Spontaneous HVRS discharges were exhibited in 90% of 40 Long Evans rats and occurred during sudden arrest of ongoing behavior (immobility) with occasional facial/whisker twitching. However, the function of HVRS discharges in Long Evans rats remains inconclusive to date and has been associated with alpha tremor/mu rhythm, attentive mu wave, and absence seizure. To elucidate the function of HVRS discharges in Long Evans rats, several experiments were performed. In a 6-h recording session (12:00-18:00), HVRS activities primarily occurred in several specific vigilance states, being particularly abundant in a short-lasting period before vigilance changes. Several characteristics, such as durations, oscillatory frequencies, and interspike intervals (ISIs) of HVRS discharges, were altered during wake-sleep states. Oscillatory frequencies were negatively correlated with durations of HVRS segments. In addition, ISIs of a HVRS episode exhibited a crescendo-decrescendo pattern. These variable ISIs could explain why a negative correlation was found between oscillatory frequencies and durations of HVRS episodes. Moreover, HVRS discharges were demonstrated to have widespread and near-synchronous distribution to bilateral cortical areas. In addition, innocuous electrical stimuli were unable to stop ongoing HVRS discharges. By contrast, noxious stimuli elicited behavioral arousal and immediately terminated most HVRS discharges. Cortical-evoked potentials in response to mild electrical stimulation under HVRS discharges were different from those under waking state but resemble those under slow-wave sleep with a smaller magnitude. Moreover, the temporal and spectral characteristics of spontaneous HVRS activities were analogous to those of seizure activities induced by penicillin and pentylenetetrazol. The incidence of spontaneous HVRS discharges was significantly decreased by ethosuximide administration. Based on these results, HVRS discharge might not be associated with a voluntary mu-rhythm behavior, instead it behaves as an absence-like seizure activity. These results were also collaborated using other genetic absence-seizure rats, such as WAG/Rij and GAERS rats. Possible mechanisms for the generation and termination of paroxysmal HVRS discharges are also discussed.
 ...
PMID:Is spontaneous high-voltage rhythmic spike discharge in Long Evans rats an absence-like seizure activity? 1282 56

We investigated the effect of intense audiogenic stimulation (AGS) on rats treated with the antibiotic imipenem and dipeptidase inhibitor cilastatin (Imi/Cil). Under pentobarbital anesthesia (40 mg/kg) adult male Wistar rats were implanted with electrodes and cannulas were placed in the right lateral ventricle. Animals were divided into the following groups: (1) vehicle, (2) Imi/Cil 10 microg/10 microg, (3) Imi/Cil 25 microg/25 microg, (4) vehicle+AGS, (5) Imi/Cil 10 microg/10 microg +AGS, and (6) Imi/Cil 25 microg/25 microg +AGS. Imi/Cil was administered intracerebroventricularly in 5 microl of physiological saline. AGS (100+/-3 dB, 60 seconds) was applied at 15-minute intervals after the injection. Imi/Cil-induced seizures (twitching, forelimb clonus, headnodding, rearing, and clonic convulsions) and Imi/Cil-audio-induced seizures (wild running, clonic and tonic convulsions) were scored according to appropriate rating scales. Imi/Cil provoked convulsions dose-dependently. Each behavioral seizure response had a characteristic EEG correlate. AGS by itself did not provoke seizures in untreated rats. Sound stimulation in Imi/Cil-injected rats elicited typical audiogenic seizures, which were induced during five AGS tests (75 minutes postinjection). In most cases audiogenic seizures were not associated with epileptiform activity in the EEG, indicating that spreading of seizures did not involve the cortex. Since Imi/Cil-induced and Imi/Cil-audio-induced seizures differed behaviorally and electroencephalographically, it is suggested that different neural pathways are responsible for these two types of seizures: neuronal networks in the cortex are involved in Imi/Cil-induced seizures, whereas audiogenic seizures use networks residing primarily in the brainstem.
 ...
PMID:Induction of audiogenic seizures in imipenem/cilastatin-treated rats. 1512 14

The effects of phenytoin (PHT) and phenobarbital (PHB) on EEG activity and behavior was studied in the model of epilepsy induced by intracerebroventricular (i.c.v.) administration of imipenem/cilastatin (Imi/Cil). Under intraperitoneal (i.p.) sodium pentobarbital anesthesia adult male Wistar albino rats were implanted with electrodes and cannulas were placed into the right lateral ventricle. Animals were divided into groups: 1) Imi/Cil (100/100 microg, i.c.v.), 2) PHT (40 mg/kg) + Imi/Cil (100/100 microg, i.c.v), 3) PHT (80 mg/kg) + Imi/Cil (100/100 microg, i.c.v.), 4) PHT (160 mg/kg) + Imi/Cil (100/100 microg, i.c.v.), 5) PHB (50 mg/kg) + Imi/Cil (100/100 microg, i.c.v.), and 6) PHB (80 mg/kg) + Imi/Cil (100/100 microg, i.c.v.). PHT and PHB were injected intraperitoneally (i.p.) 1 h before Imi/Cil. Seizures were scored according to the scale: 0--normal behavior; 1--twitching, 2--head nodding, forelimb clonus, 3--rearing, and 4--clonic-tonic convulsions. Imi/Cil provoked maximal seizures in all animals, and all rats died 10 - 18 min after the injection. Epileptiform activity preceded behavioral seizures. Clonic-tonic seizures were associated with continuous bursts of high-frequency high-amplitude spikes in the EEG. PHT and PHB suppressed Imi/Cil-induced seizures dose-dependently. PHB reduced epileptiform discharges during behavioral seizures elicited by Imi/Cil, while PHT had no effect on EEG epileptic phenomena. These results suggest that PHT acts as anticonvulsant, and PHB as anticonvulsant and antiepileptic agent in the model of epilepsy induced by Imi/Cil.
 ...
PMID:The effects of phenytoin and phenobarbital on seizures induced by imipenem/cilastatin in rats. 1514 58

The succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase (SSADH) null mouse represents a viable animal model for human SSADH deficiency and is characterized by markedly elevated levels of both gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) and gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in brain, blood, and urine. GHB is known to induce absence-like seizures and absence seizures have been reported to occur in children with SSADH deficiency. We tested the hypothesis that the phenotype of the SSADH(-/-) mouse shows absence-like seizures because of the inordinately high levels of GHB in the brain of this mutant animal. Sequential electrocorticographic (ECoG) and prolonged video ECoG recordings from chronically implanted electrodes were done on SSADH(-/-), SSADH(+/-), and SSADH(+/+) mice from postnatal day (P) 10 to (P) 21. Spontaneous, recurrent absence-like seizures appeared in the SSADH(-/-) during the second week of life and evolved into generalized convulsive seizures late in the third week of life that were associated with an explosive onset of status epilepticus which was lethal. The seizures in SSADH null mice were consistent with typical absence seizures in rodent with 7 Hz spike-and-wave discharge (SWD) recorded from thalamocortical circuitry, the onset/offset of which was time-locked with ictal behavior characterized by facial myoclonus, vibrissal twitching and frozen immobility. The absence seizures became progressively more severe from P14 to 18 at which time they evolved into myoclonic and generalized convulsive seizures that progressed into a lethal status epilepticus. The absence seizures in SSADH(-/-) were abolished by ethosuximide (ETX) and the GABA(B)R antagonist CGP 35348. The seizure phenotype in the SSADH(-/-) recapitulates that observed in human SSADH deficiency. Hence, SSADH(-/-) may be used to investigate the molecular mechanisms that underpin the pathogenesis of absence and generalized tonic-clonic seizures associated with SSADH deficiency. As well, the SSADH(-/-) may represent a unique animal model of the transition from absence to myoclonic and generalized convulsive seizures that is observed in up to 80% of patients with juvenile absence epilepsy.
 ...
PMID:Absence seizures in succinic semialdehyde dehydrogenase deficient mice: a model of juvenile absence epilepsy. 1558 27

Paroxysmal 5- to 12-Hz high-voltage rhythmic spike (HVRS) activities, which are accompanied by whisker twitching (WT), are found in Long Evans rats, but the function of these HVRS activities is still debated. In four major functional hypotheses of HVRS discharges, i.e., alpha tremor, attention/mu rhythm, idling/mu rhythm, and absence seizure, the first two hypotheses emphasize WT behavior in HVRS bouts. Whisker movement is primarily determined by activation of intrinsic and extrinsic muscles. To clarify the role of WT in HVRS activities, simultaneous recording of the activities from the cortex and intrinsic/extrinsic and neck muscles were performed. Most HVRS bouts (68.8%) revealed no time-locked WT behavior in a 2-h recording session. In addition, WT primarily arose from active protraction due to activation of intrinsic muscles followed by passive retraction. A small portion of WT resulted from activation of both vibrissae muscles with dynamic frequency-dependent phase shifts. Onset of the rhythmic vibrissae EMG significantly lagged behind HVRS onset, and the mean duration of vibrissae muscle activity was one-third to a one-half of a HVRS bout. Moreover, a greater number of HVRS bouts were associated with a longer HVRS duration and higher oscillation frequency. Oscillation frequencies of HVRS activities without WT behavior were significantly lower than those with WT. Under peripheral sensory/motor blockade by xylocaine injection, oscillation frequencies of HVRS bouts significantly decreased, but no remarkable changes in the number or duration of HVRS bouts were observed. Compared with vibrissa muscle activity during WT and exploratory whisking, the duration of muscular activity in each cycle was apparently longer during whisking bouts. Based on these results, overemphasis of the role of WT on HVRS activities might not be appropriate. Instead, HVRS discharges may be associated with absence seizure or idling state. In addition, peripheral inputs, including WT, may elevate the oscillation frequency of HVRS bouts. Moreover, different muscular controls may exist between WT and whisking.
 ...
PMID:Relation between activities of the cortex and vibrissae muscles during high-voltage rhythmic spike discharges in rats. 1562 92


<< Previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Next >>