Specific alteration in the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein, glutamate dehydrogenase, and glutamine synthetase in rats with genetic absence epilepsy

Astrocytes play a predominant role in energy metabolism and in the catabolism of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, neurotransmitters critically involved in epileptic processes. We show specific astrocytic alterations in the genetic absence epilepsy rats from Strasbourg (GAERS). Spontaneous a...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Glia 2000-10, Vol.32 (1), p.15-24
Main Authors: Dutuit, Magali, Didier-Bazès, Marianne, Vergnes, Marguerite, Mutin, Mireille, Conjard, Agnès, Akaoka, Hideo, Belin, Marie-Françoise, Touret, Monique
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Astrocytes
Astrocytes - enzymology
Biological and medical sciences
Cerebral Cortex
Cerebral Cortex - enzymology
Cerebral Cortex - pathology
Cerebral Cortex - physiopathology
Disease Models, Animal
Epilepsy, Absence
Epilepsy, Absence - enzymology
Epilepsy, Absence - genetics
Epilepsy, Absence - physiopathology
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein - genetics
Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein - metabolism
Glutamate Dehydrogenase
Glutamate Dehydrogenase - genetics
Glutamate Dehydrogenase - metabolism
glutamate metabolism
Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase
Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase - genetics
Glutamate-Ammonia Ligase - metabolism
Headache. Facial pains. Syncopes. Epilepsia. Intracranial hypertension. Brain oedema. Cerebral palsy
Hippocampus
Hippocampus - enzymology
Hippocampus - pathology
Hippocampus - physiopathology
Life Sciences
Medical sciences
Nervous system (semeiology, syndromes)
Neurology
Rats
Rats, Wistar
reactive astrocytes
RNA, Messenger
RNA, Messenger - metabolism
Synaptic Transmission
Synaptic Transmission - physiology
Thalamus
Thalamus - enzymology
Thalamus - pathology
Thalamus - physiopathology
Vimentin
Vimentin - genetics
Vimentin - metabolism
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Astrocytes play a predominant role in energy metabolism and in the catabolism of γ‐aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glutamate, neurotransmitters critically involved in epileptic processes. We show specific astrocytic alterations in the genetic absence epilepsy rats from Strasbourg (GAERS). Spontaneous absence seizures appear in this strain in the cortex and thalamus after the age of 1 month. In these brain structures, we demonstrate increased GFAP expression in both adult and young GAERS, suggesting that reactive astrocytes are already present before the onset of seizures. Glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH) and glutamine synthetase (GS), which are localized mainly in astrocytes and involved in glutamate catabolism, are shown to be differentially altered. GDH expression was increased in the thalamus of both young and adult GAERS and in the cortex of young GAERS. GS expression was slightly decreased in the thalamus of young GAERS. These astrocytic modifications are not adaptive responses to seizures, as the modifications appear before the development of absence seizures. Thus, astrocytes might be involved in the neuronal processes giving rise to epileptic seizures in this strain. GLIA 32:15–24, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.
ISSN:0894-1491
1098-1136
DOI:10.1002/1098-1136(200010)32:1<15::AID-GLIA20>3.0.CO;2-#