Treatment with melatonin after status epilepticus attenuates seizure activity and neuronal damage but does not prevent the disturbance in diurnal rhythms and behavioral alterations in spontaneously hypertensive rats in kainate model of temporal lobe epilepsy.

Melatonin is involved in the control of circadian and seasonal rhythmicity, possesses potent antioxidant activity, and exerts a neuroprotective and anticonvulsant effect. Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) are widely accepted as an experimental model of essential hypertension with hyperactivity, deficient sustained attention, and alterations in circadian autonomic profiles. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether melatonin treatment during epileptogenesis can prevent the deleterious consequences of status epilepticus (SE) in SHRs in the kainate (KA) model of temporal lobe of epilepsy (TLE). Spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRSs) were EEG- and video-recorded during and after the treatment protocol. Melatonin (10mg/kg diluted in drinking water, 8weeks) increased the seizure-latent period, decreased the frequency of SRSs, and attenuated the circadian rhythm of seizure activity in SHRs. However, melatonin was unable to affect the disturbed diurnal rhythms and behavioral changes associated with epilepsy, including the decreased anxiety level, depression, and impaired spatial memory. Melatonin reduced neuronal damage specifically in the CA1 area of the hippocampus and piriform cortex and decreased hippocampal serotonin (5-HT) levels both in control and epileptic SHRs. Although long-term melatonin treatment after SE shows a potential to attenuate seizure activity and neuronal loss, it is unable to restore epilepsy-associated behavioral abnormalities in SHRs.

Strain-dependent effects of long-term treatment with melatonin on kainic acid-induced status epilepticus, oxidative stress and the expression of heat shock proteins.

Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of both hypertension and epileptogenesis, therefore it could be used as a tool for studying co-morbidity of hypertension and epilepsy. Clinical data suggest that melatonin is a potent antioxidant that is effective in the adjunctive therapy of hypertension and neurodegenerative diseases. The present study aimed to explore and compare the efficacy of chronic pretreatment with melatonin infused via subcutaneous osmotic mini-pumps for 14 days (10 mg/kg per day) on kainic acid (KA)-induced status epilepticus, oxidative stress and expression of heat shock protein (HSP) 72 in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs) and normotensive Wistar rats. SHRs showed higher lipid peroxidation (LP) in the frontal cortex and hippocampus and decreased cytosolic superoxide dismutase (SOD/CuZn) production in the frontal cortex compared to Wistar rats. Status epilepticus (SE) induced by KA (12 mg/kg, i.p.) was accompanied by increased LP and expression of HSP 72 in the hippocampus of the two strains and increased SOD/CuZn production in the frontal cortex of SHRs. Melatonin failed to suppress seizure incidence and intensity though the latency for seizure onset was significantly increased in SHRs. Melatonin attenuated the KA-induced increase in the level of LP in the hippocampus both in SHRs and Wistar rats. However, an increased activity in SOD/CuZn and mitochondrial SOD Mn as well as reduced expression of HSP 72 in the hippocampus was observed only in Wistar rats pretreated with melatonin. Taken together, the observed strain differences in the efficacy of chronic melatonin exposure before SE suggest a lack of a direct link between the seizure activity and the markers of oxidative stress and neurotoxicity.

Prophylactic treatment with melatonin after status epilepticus: effects on epileptogenesis, neuronal damage, and behavioral changes in a kainate model of temporal lobe epilepsy.

Melatonin is a potent antioxidant which showed anticonvulsant activities both in experimental and clinical studies. In the present study, we examined the effect of melatonin treatment (10mg/kg/day, diluted in drinking water, 8 weeks) during epileptogenesis on the consequences of a kainate (KA)-induced status epilepticus (SE) in rats. Melatonin increased the latency in the appearance of spontaneous recurrent seizures (SRSs) and decreased their frequency only during the treatment period. The behavioral alterations associated with hyperactivity, depression-like behavior during the light phase, and deficits in hippocampus-dependent working memory were positively affected by melatonin treatment in rats with epilepsy. Melatonin reduced the neuronal damage in the CA1 area of the hippocampus and piriform cortex and recovered the decrease of hippocampal serotonin (5-HT) level in rats with epilepsy. Taken together, long-term melatonin treatment after SE was unable to suppress the development of epileptogenesis. However, it showed a potential in reducing some of the deleterious alterations that develop during the chronic epileptic state in a diurnal phase-dependent mode.