Prenatal PTZ exposure alters the susceptibility to PTZ-induced seizures and non-convulsive epilepsy in rats

The effects of prenatal PTZ treatment on convulsive threshold for PTZ and spontaneously occurring spike-wave discharages (SWD) were studied in WAG/Rij rats. Pregnant females were either repeatedly injected with PTZ (40 mg/kg i.p.) or saline. The offspring were divided into four groups that were challenged with PTZ at one of the following postnatal days (PD): 40-th, 70-th, 100-th and 130-th. The PTZ pre-treated group had a higher PTZ seizure threshold than the control at PD 40, 100 and 130, not at PD 70: than the control group had a higher threshold. Next there was an age-dependent decrease in seizure threshold and latency. EEG monitoring at the age of 110-140 days showed a lower number of SWD for WAG/Rij rats prenatally treated with PTZ than for the control group. These results demonstrate that prenatal PTZ treatment protects rats against PTZ-induced seizures and SWD